Duel Enrollment
by Blackkitten23
Summary: A foreign headmaster goes to England for a trip. He feels a pull of magic and follows it to a home where he witnesses Harry being horribly abused. This wizard will not stand for it, he helps the child and gladly breaks a few rules to do it … – Harem - Yaoi Boy x Boy
1. Cub in Need

**I don't own Harry Potter and I don't make a profit off my stories**

 **Warnings - sexual content, language, violence/abuse, Mpreg, manipulative Dumbledore/Ron/Hermione/Ginny bashing**

 **(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Yaoi M/M, Harem – seme Harry x uke Draco / ?**

XXXXXXXXXX

"seriously? … of all the places that dart could've fallen it lands here … should've just gone surfing instead. Oh well, better make the most of this vacation" muttered a tall blonde man as he appeared in Diagon Alley through a burst of green flames courtesy of the Floo network.

The man's name was Brian White, the headmaster of Legerdemain Academy of Sorcery in Australia who at the moment was regretting coming to the old fashioned, stuck in the past magical UK. It was simply not his style. He was dressed in brown pants, blue jacket and white t-shirt with brown boots. Everyone was in robes …

Brian simply sighed and ran his fingers through his dirty blonde hair "blimey … I haven't seen so many robes since the graduation ceremony and I'm supposed to get away from school hmmm … maybe the muggle side will be less … stuffy" it disturbed him a bit when he heard people calling snake speakers evil or insulting people who came from non-magical families. He personally had nothing but respect for non-magical people. He couldn't imagine being without his magic.

Ignoring the wide range of looks shot his way with great skill he moved through the crowd of people, but he stopped when something caught his eyes. Being the educator he was he couldn't help but smile as he saw a kid trying a spell and went to help.

"what are you trying to cast there kid and where are your parents?" Brain asked as he kneeled next to the red hair boy.

"my mom is in that shop trying to haggle prices" Brain winced as he looked at the shop he boy pointed to and saw a redheaded woman squabbling with the clearly scared shop owner "I wanted to try the levitating spell, but it's not working. Oh I'm Percy, who are you?"

"I'm Brian White. Why don't you try it and let me see?" the headmaster offered kindly.

"Wingardium Leviosa" Percy flicked his wand at a pebble on the side of the street.

"I see, you're saying it perfectly, but you're wrist motion is too jerky. Try to relax your grip and keep your movements fluid" he instructed softly. The boy nodded and tried again with more relaxed and smooth motions. Brain grinned as the pebble rose into the air before dropping down after a few seconds "very good Percy" he chuckled as Percy gave a whoop of joy.

"thank you Mr. White" said the smiling redhead.

"it was no trouble. So when are you going back to school?" Brian asked.

Percy pouted "I'm only nine. Hogwarts starts at 11. My parents got me a wand early to get used to it, but I can't really start learning for two years. It's not fair, I see my brothers learning all sorts of awesome things- … looks like my mom is done. Bye"

The shocked headmaster muttered a 'see ya kid' as he watched the kid take his mother's hand and walk away. Not fair indeed, his school starts at five years old! He just figured Percy was having trouble with that particular spell. After all every kid had that one subject or spell that gives them trouble and may take more time or that that spell was done later at Hogwarts than his school … the later was sort of true. The boy hasn't even started school yet!

Eleven! Bloody hell!

Now accompanied by a furious twitch in his right eyebrow the headmaster made a beeline for the exit intent on leaving before he shoved his steel toed boot up someone's ass … again, long story involving a teacher he discovered was abusing his students. Finally he found the spot where people were leaving to the muggle world and left. It was somewhat of a relief to get out of there even if he ended up in an strange pub.

The man behind the counter smiled "good evening sir, welcome to the Leaky Cauldron, I'm Tom. Haven't seen you before, where are you from?"

"Australia, came for a vacation … sorry, I'm Brian White, nice to meet you" Brian smiled and shook the pub owner's hand.

"enjoying your stay so far?" Tom asked curiously.

"yeah …" Brian replied automatically offering a polite smile. He was never a rude person and he won't start now.

Tom wasn't fooled … the pub owner gave a sad, but knowing smile "you aren't the only tourist who ran in here and immediately looked for an exit" Brian scratched the side of his jaw sheepishly "it's ok really, but could you tell me what throws so many people for a loop? Most people look either offended or down right pissed, I'd like to know why" said Tom imploringly.

Brian sighed "if the magical UK ever gets it's head out of the 18th century mindset and connected with the rest of the world then you'll see a lot more happy tourists. Glad to meet you Tom" the headmaster waved over is shoulder at the stunned pub owner and continued walking down the road to look for a muggle hotel or a spot to sleep.

It was a beautiful evening. The sun was just starting to go down and the stars just starting to peek out. Brian continued walking through the London streets just content feeling the breeze caress his face.

For a brief moment he paused in front of a nice hotel, but shrugged and kept walking. Brian White was someone who followed his instincts and something in him told him to keep walking. As he let his feet guided him he pondered the magical UK's old world and prejudice views. He has heard the rumors, but he never expected _that._ A somewhat disconcerting vacation so far …

Suddenly the wizard froze in mid step as a terrible chill washed over him. It had nothing to do with the warm breeze … no … this was something else entirely. There was something … someone, pulling him. A weak tendril of magic tugged at his own magic … crying for help.

An animalistic growl rumbled through the wizard's chest and his body dissolved into silvery wisps of smoke. The silver wisps took the shape of a wolf that was now racing through the streets towards the magic that was pleading for help.

Thankfully no one saw Brian change and once he was in his smoke wolf form no one non-magical could see him. Of course he wasn't considering the possibilities of witnesses at the moment. He was too busy searching for the person who was in need of help. For some reason he felt the situation become more dire with each minute.

The headmaster was lead down a street lined on each side by muggle homes and made a beeline for the fourth house on Privet Drive. Startled momentarily by the presence of wards around the house he paused and slowed his approach. When the wards didn't stop him he crept up to the window still in the form of a wolf.

Screaming and yelling could easily be heard before he even got to the house, but what he saw made his hackles rise. A bulbous pig of a man was standing over the trembling form of a small child. The irate man raised his foot and kicked the child across the floor. The smoke wolf growled furiously and easily slipped through the mail slot startling the fat muggle.

"what the bloody hell? Is there a fire-" the man snarled as the smoke accumulated into a six foot five inch tall stack and turned into a solid blonde man "Petunia there's another freak-" the man's barking was silenced as Brian waved his hand into the muggle's face lulling the fat man into a hypnotic daze. A twig like woman and very plump child ran into the room, but before they could scream the same simple wave of the headmaster's hand made them fall silent with dazed eyes.

Brian immediately kneeled next to the tiny bloodied child in rags laying motionless on the floor. The battered boy was maybe the size of a two year old and looked like a skeleton with blood caked black hair. Both of the child's eyes were swollen shut and his right wrist was clearly broken. With great care Brian gently cradled the small child and pressed one finger against the delicate throat to check for a pulse. Much to his relief there was one, a weak pulse, but it was there. However it won't be there for long if he didn't hurry.

"grab all of this child's things and put them on the table. Then sit on the couch until I get back" he didn't even bother waiting to see if the muggles would do as told … he knew they would. Without a second thought further he pulled out a portkey and activated it. When he reappeared it was in the living room and he startled the woman there "Aster wait! It's me!"

The young blue eyed woman with long white hair breathed a sigh of relief and lowered her wand "Brian you scared me, what were you think- … oh god" her eyes widened in horror as they landed on the bloodied form of a child in her friend's arms "take the poor thing to the guest room!" Brian bolted up the stairs three steps at a time and laid the child on the bed. Aster entered the room seconds later with a bag of potions. After tending to the child's major wounds and checked for internal injuries she started pulling out potions.

"will he be ok?" asked Brian concern evident in his tone.

"he is in bad shape, but yes … care to explain why you brought him here and not Pearl hospital?" she asked seriously.

"it might make things difficult since I technically kidnaped him" he muttered without taking his eyes away from the child's small form.

"oh I see- … you what?! are you insane?!" the healer gaped as she stared at the headmaster in complete shock "I will, of course, get answers right Brian?" she said so sweetly that the headmaster knew he'd die a horrible death if he didn't give a really, really good reason for the child on the brink of death in her guest bed … answers which he didn't quite have right now …

"I'm going to get them" without another word the headmaster swirled away into tendrils of silver gray smoke and silently apparated away …

Aster scoffed "he ran away … well he had better come back with the full story" she muttered in irritation as she glared at the spot where the headmaster last stood. A little whimper from her little patient brought her full attention back to the wounded child "hush now sweetheart, you are safe. Go to sleep" she said softly as she pulled out a candle and lit it. The candle released a smell that quickly pulled the child into a deep painless, dreamless sleep. If this poor little child could drink a potion she would have had him do that instead, but he was in no condition to move or consume things on his own so the candle potion it is.

A candle potion is simply a solid that can be burned. The smoke given off has the same effect as the potion that's fused in the wax. Such treatment can be used to help an entire room of people calm down or sleep, but in this case Aster placed a barrier charm around herself so she wouldn't be effected as she continued treatment.

"I'm so glad I stocked up … people can tease me about being OCD all they want, but times like these it's good to be prepared" she commented to herself as she set the child's broken wrist. She took a bottle of skele-gro and with a flick of her wand an IV was set up next to the bed and a needle was pushed into a vein in the child's frail arm "it's ok sweetheart, you'll be all better soon" she said soothingly to the sleeping child as she measured out the right amounts of skele-gro, blood replenishing and other potions, which she added to the fluid filled bag. An IV was necessary an emergency, but when he recovered she could burn the potions with the candle and when he woke up he can drink them properly.

As the potion and liquids made their way into the child's system she spelled away his clothes and began diligently cleaning the poor little boy with a set of never been used sponges. As each sponge was used on an area she threw it away so as not to use it again and contaminate any wounds.

After thoroughly cleaning away years worth of blood, feces, grime and urine from his body, face and hair a few more injuries were revealed. She immediately began applying a few different salves to a series of cuts, scrapes, bruises, bug bites, blisters, oozing sores, angry welts and to her horror cigarette burns.

The sound of the bones breaking so they can be healed properly made the healer sigh in relief. Soon all his bones will be healed and he will be much better.

XXXXXXXXXX

Brian reappeared without the loud pop one would expect from that means of travel and looked around the muggle house. The muggles he met before were sitting on the couch and on the table was a couple wrinkled child's drawings, a ripped blanket and some broken crayons.

"are these all of the child's things?" the headmaster asked with a hint of anger and disgust lacing his tone.

"yes, that's everything" said the dazed woman in a monotone voice.

"ok" Brian tried to calm down as he collected the boy meager belongings. Afterwards he grabbed a chair from the kitchen table and sat in it backwards. He leaned against the chair's back and looked at the muggle family "now what do you say we get to know each other? Who are you and who was that child?"

The fat man puffed his chest out in pride "I am Vernon Dursley. This is my lovely wife Petunia and my son Dudley" the spellbound man's face darkened "that thing you took was my wife's nephew we were saddled with"

"really? I'm sorry, who dumped the boy on you? Please explain" Brian asked trying not to kill them. His hypnotism spell worked best when the ones under it felt safe and could talk freely.

Petunia scowled "another freak like you named Dumbledore. After my freak sister and her freakish husband were murdered by a freak named Voldemort, Dumbledore dropped the ungrateful waste of space on our doorstep with instructions to watch him with Ms. Figg and to treat him horribly, but not to kill or break him. I wanted to dump the freakish spawn at an orphanage, but the money we're paid is really good and we have no trouble treating him like the freak he is. Besides the freak Dumbledore said just keep will protect us from the freaks who killed his parents … something about blood wards"

Brian had a white knuckled grip on the chair "so who is Ms. Figg? How old is the boy and what's his name? Give me as much detail as possible and I can find a solution for your problem"

Vernon shrugged "Ms. Figg is the cat woman down the street who watches the freak when we go on vacation. Nice normal woman even though she works with freaks. The freak was born July 31 so he'd be four now and his name is Harry Potter"

That was everything he needed to know. These people were horrid magic hating muggles and this Dumbledore is a sick bastard "I understand completely and how about this … you keep going as usual and pretend the freak is still here, while I take him out of your hair. No child, but you would still get the money. Oh I felt the protection Dumbledore meant, but I'm sure as long as you, Petunia, are here it should work all the same with you being related by blood. That's how blood wards work"

Petunia smiled "that would be wonderful"

"good I'll chat with Ms. Figg and I'll be back tomorrow with some papers that you both will sign. It will mean no one can force the boy back onto you. Oh if he gets any mail just burn it in your fireplace" the headmaster stood up and subtly cast a spell over the fireplace. If anything was burnt there it would reappear unscathed in the headmaster's study at his home. He snapped his fingers freeing them from the spell. They will do as he asked whether they want to or not. Of course it helps that they are very eager to get rid of the boy. The dazed looks in their eyes faded, but he left out the front door before they could fully come to their senses.

The tingling from the wards made him stop and looked at the house "wait …there are no blood wards. Only very strong wards that will keep out those with ill intent … at least only magical people with ill intent. What kind of protection is that if Harry is beaten to death by his muggle relatives? What is this Dumbledore thinking? And to actually give someone those instructions to take care of a child … it's disgusting … I'm not going back to explain to the Dursleys" he muttered and continued down the street until he spotted a house with nearly a dozen cats in plain view through the open window. He went over and knocked on the door …

An older woman came to answer it "yes how can I help you?"

"are you Ms. Figg?" Brian asked cheerily.

"why yes, what's- …" Ms. Figg fell into a hypnotic trance with a simple wave of the headmaster's hand. Brian went in the house and Ms. Figg shut the door. They both sat down on the couch.

"what is your role with Harry Potter?" Brian asked cutting straight to the point.

Ms. Figg scowled "Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, made me move here to watch the brat and send him reports, but only when the boy disappears for too long, other magical folks come looking or when muggles like neighbors, teachers, police and doctors try to get involved. He never comes, but he sends some potions or something to wipe those nosy peoples' memories. Other than that I'm supposed to look in from time to time to make sure he has no clue about the magical world"

"so he knows nothing … why would you let this treatment go on and why would Dumbledore want this?" Brian asked though he had a sick feeling this was a plot to take advantage of the child and turn him into a symbolic weapon. After all Harry Potter was 'The Boy Who Lived' if he recalled correctly … he rarely read the newspaper so he had to go and check …

"why should I help when not one person helped me when I was thrown out for being a squib? As far as Dumbledore goes, he wants the brat beaten down, humbled, submissive, awed by magic, willing and easy to control for his own reasons" Ms. Figg shrugged uncaringly.

Brian's jaw clenched, but he still forced a smile to his lips "I'm sorry you had to put up with that. I just made a deal with the Dursleys. They agreed to let me take Harry away and they just had to keep up the pretense that he was still here so no one gets in trouble with Dumbledore, but to pull it off we need your help"

Ms. Figg smiled in her daze "of course I'll help"

"good. That will be a great help … if you get anything from him just burn it in the Dursleys' fireplace" he snapped his fingers and apparated away before she came to her senses …

XXXXXXXXXX

Aster was so intent on making sure she was carefully applying her salves that she didn't hear the headmaster reappear and nailed him between the eyes when she tossed an empty salve container towards her floating bag to be washed later.

"Ow … hey watch where your throwing things" Brian pouted as he rubbed his forehead.

"serves you right for silently apparating in and giving no warning" she huffed as she cast a barrier charm on him so the burning candle would have no effect on him "well, I'm waiting …" she some how managed to give off a threatening aura without even looking away from a very bad sore in between the boy's legs on his genitals.

Brian looked down at the boy and ever so gently ran his fingers over the child's hair noticing the boy whimper lightly "his name is Harry Potter and he's four years old. His aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon are muggles who absolutely hate magic and took out their hate on him"

"what? That's horrid! Why didn't MCS get involved?" she asked as she flicked her wand. The boy floated up and was turned so she could get the salve on his back bruises and sores.

The blonde man stepped aside so the IV bag could readjust "there are no Magical Childs Services in the UK and it gets worse- …are those burns?" he gasped as he saw the burns on the boy's small arm.

"yes … from cigarettes" she answered sadly even though the burns were healing before their eyes "how exactly can it get worse?"

"the headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, paid Harry's relatives to treat him horribly and received reports from a squib on his treatment … a rather bitter squib at that. Apparently many muggles tried to help, but they were fooled through magical means" he growled as he recalled his talk with Ms. Figg.

"paid … to hurt a child? It's … inhuman" Aster had tears prickling her eyes as she carefully set the far too small boy back on his back and draped a soft sheet over him to tuck him in "why? What good could come from torturing a child? He's just a baby! How did an evil man like that become headmaster? He shouldn't be allowed around children" she hissed furiously.

Brian sighed "Dumbledore wants the 'Boy Who Lived' under his thumb for some reason"

Aster placed her fists on her hips and glared her boss down "you had better have a foolproof plan to keep this sweet little boy away for that sick maniac, Brian Isaac White!" she yelled scaring the wizard.

"err … yes, the Dursleys are willingly giving him up for adoption. So first thing in the morning I'm going to Gringotts and getting a goblin to issue both muggle and magical adoption papers. Even if he has a magical guardian it won't matter if the Dursleys, being blood relatives, sign him over" Brian explained quickly and held his hands up in surrender.

The young woman with waist length white hair nodded in satisfaction and Brian relaxed "good … now his body is healing quickly and he's out of danger. All he needs is rest and lots of nutrition potions. I set up an alarm ward if his vitals change"

"ok … night Aster" said Brian as he laid on the floor.

Her jaw dropped "what the hell Brian-… never mind" she rolled her eyes as she heard snoring coming from the blonde on the floor and left the room. Brian White was the kind of person who would throw a dart at a map, go where it lands within the hour, with little to no luggage or money and have a grand time even without a hotel to sleep in.

That was the adventurous and laid back kind of person he was, but he was a loved headmaster who was ferocious when it comes to protecting children. He won't stop when it comes to protecting a cub and right now he was plotting to save little Harry …

You know Brian always wanted a child of his own and it feels right now, with Harry …


	2. Sleep Soundly

**(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Yaoi M/M, Harem – top Harry x bottoms Draco / Tom / Cedric**

 **Last Time:**

You know Brian always wanted a child of his own and it feels right now, with Harry …

XXXXXXXXXX

For once in Petunia's life she was thrilled to meet a freak even if she couldn't figure out why it was so easy to talk to him. Vernon even took the day off to get these papers signed. Now they were just waiting and not for very long …

The knocking on the door early in the morning drew their attention and Petunia opened the door "oh good, you're early. Lets get this over with" said the muggle wife excitedly as she let Brian in the house.

Brian forced a smile to his face "my sentiments exactly. Now I wanted to get this all done at once so to warn you a worker from the wizarding bank called Gringotts is coming. Don't freak out when he comes, he won't bite and once its done Harry won't just be out of your hair, he'll be half way across the world" the urge to hit Vernon as very strong … the man looked too happy about all of this and so was his wife.

A sharp popping sound caught their attention and Brian had to clap his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing at the muggles faces when they saw the goblin. It was hysterical! They were about to faint!

"we are here to break the bonds of custody and form an adoption, is that correct?" the goblin asked as he snapped his finger making one of the chairs lower to his level. Once he stepped on it raised so he could see over the table.

"yes sir. Both for magical world and muggle world and I want to continue through with a blood adoption" said Brian as he gently nudged the two stunned muggles snapping them back to their senses.

The goblin nodded sharply "very good. I am Griphook and I will be the overseer for these workings. Now no one here is under any pressure or being forced to be here or comply, is that true?" Brain mentally smirked as the Dursleys nodded, the spell he used on them was nothing more than a powerful hypnosis. He isn't forcing them to do anything they didn't want to do. Griphook nodded in satisfaction that no one was being forced into this and a set of papers appeared in his hands "this first set will relinquish all claims you have to the child in question in muggle world and give it to the adopter. Guardians sign first"

Vernon snatched up a previously prepared pen "a pen is ok right?" he wanted no mistakes.

"yes. Now the child's _full_ name, date of birth, gender and todays date in these spots" instructed Griphook. Vernon nodded and filled in all the information pausing only for a moment to check the date "now your full name and initials here and relation to the child in these spots. Once you're done your wife will sign next and initial next to you. If are the maternal relative then 'maternal' before your relation"

Petunia eagerly took the pen from her husband and signed and dotted. This was also the first time she was happy to write 'maternal aunt' when it came to being related to Harry.

The goblin took the papers and nodded in satisfaction despite hiding his shock that these people just gave away Harry Potter, 'The Boy Who Lived' "very good Mr. and Mrs. Dursley. You have given up all rights to your nephew and you are the adopter I presume"

Brian smiled "yes I am"

"good, sign here and initial here" the goblin watched as the wizard signed and took the completed documents a single piece of parchment appeared in his hand. Griphook laid the document out in front of them "you have completed the breaking of guardianship and adoption of one Harry James Potter for muggle world and this is the document to finish it through magical world. Simply place your finger on the spots. Mr. Dursley, if you please, point here and you will feel a pinch"

The muggle flinched as the paper seemed to stick him with an invisible pin, but he was shocked to see his name appear on the line in red ink … his blood. Petunia did as instructed next and Brian after that …

Griphook took the final document "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley you have given up all rights to your nephew Harry James Potter and have given Brian Isaac White full custody. I will take care of everything needed beyond this point including getting the adoption potion request for you Mr. White. Where do you live?"

"Australia, my card" Brain didn't want to go into detail in front of the muggles so he handed over a card containing all his information from owl address to floo to phone number.

"I understand and will owl you once the potion is ready. Simply come and visit Gringotts in two weeks or so with Harry. A pleasure doing business with you. May your gold ever grow" Griphook bowed and vanished with a pop taking the documents with him.

Brian grinned, he was eager to leave before he hurt someone "it's all done, good bye" he heard screams of joy as he left out the door before using his portkey to return to Aster's home.

Aster looked up from the bedridden little boy when she saw him enter the room "how'd it go?"

"perfectly, they gave him away without a fight and I just barely avoided hexing them into the next century … he's my son now and the adoption potion will be ready soon. Gringotts is making the request" said Brian as he sat in the chair to Harry's bed and gently touched the boy's hair as he whimpered in his sleep. Harry relaxed into the touch "what color are your eyes little one? I think green"

The healer rolled her eyes "we won't know until he wakes up in perhaps a couple days … you know the twins won't take kindly to you getting potions through someone else" she chuckled as she added a dose of nutrition potion to the IV bag.

Brian chuckled nervously "it can't be helped. Gringotts does things by the books and need to use their own potion masters. They can't blame me … right?" he gulped fearfully and made a note to himself to remember to not eat anything without checking for a potion being in it first … at least for a couple weeks.

XXXXXXXXXX

Severus Snape raised an eyebrow as an owl landed on his window sill "now what could this be about?" it was the summer so it couldn't be school related. He took the message and took note of the Gringotts seal before opening it "I see … an adoption potion is needed"

Adoption potions were one of his favorite things to do. It meant he was helping a child get closer to parents who actually want them and prevent anyone else from taking them like abusive parents. The goblins were very strict. If you ask for an adoption through them you get a rock solid case and background checks for the knew parents always with the child's best interest at heart. To complete everything they exam the child for abuse before an adoption potion is administered and may press charges against the abusive party … unless they are mugglesw. Muggles are sadly outside their jurisdiction. It's for those reasons he volunteers his services to Gringotts.

As he set up the cauldron he wondered who the child was and what situation brought about the adoption "maybe I should meet the new parents this time" he wasn't sure though. Gringotts did excellent background checks so it was guarantee that the child was going to a good home. With that in mind flicked the burner on and started the potion …

XXXXXXXXXX

"I need to set up a room for him for when he wakes up" Brian said as he stood up. He gently touched the messy black hair with red streaks on Harry's making the boy relax slightly instead of flinch like before "I'll be right back. Call me if he wakes up" he watched the boy for a second before flicking his wand over Harry to get some measurements for clothes the boy will need.

With that done he went down the stairs and to the fireplace. Unfortunately he was tired from apparating such long distances so many times in the last couple days that he had to floo in a rush of green flames from the house. He appeared in the living room of a tree-house like building complete with five different sections suspended fifty feet up in the trees over a thick wild forest that went on for miles. Each section was connected by either a rope bridge or stairs. None of the sections spread across the canopy had doors or glass in the windows … save for the doors in the bedrooms and bathrooms for privacy. You could just walk out on to the wrap around porch without barriers …

The rain, animals and bugs were kept out with special wards mixed with spells and the temperature was controlled by runes on the walls of each room. It was also impossible to fall off do to several safety spells spun into the rails, stairs and bridges. Brian White may be an adventurous man, but he wasn't stupid. As a headmaster with the job of watching children, safety was always the first priority. The only way down to the forest floor was an odd looking set of wooden elevators that hangs off to the dining room porch and floats up or down.

Brian walked up the living room section steps towards the largest two story section and went up to the top floor "for now it might be best if he's closer to my room" the headmaster went over towards the guest room next to his and transfigured the bed to fit a child. He used blue sheets on the bed and decided to get some toys too. This room had a large closet next to the bed on the same side of the night stand. There was room for a bookcase on the other side of the bed furthest from the door, but there was no wall. This room had three walls, the wall with the door, the wall the bed was against and the wall across from the bed. The wall across from the door was gone allowing someone to walk right out onto the large private balcony to look at the very close surrounding trees and wildlife.

He hoped Harry would like it …

It crossed his mind to place the child's things from the Dursley's on the little side table, but as he looked through the items he decided against it. The broken crayons were useless, the blanket was ripped and worn to the point where even magic won't help bring it back to peek condition and those drawings …

One drawing was of a sad child standing alone crying and covered in scars or scratches …

The second drawing made Brian pause. It was of a child bleeding on the floor under gaze of a fat red faced man who was most likely his uncle, but in the crudely drawn window was a wolf … was it a coincidence or was it meant to depict him?

Either way if this was all that was his then it was best to get rid of them. Make as clean a slate as possible and remove all the bad reminders. He threw the items away and disposed of them before Harry would ever know they were there …

After going back to the floo he left for a shopping district not far away in the magical world overlapping Sydney Australia.

"Hey Brian!" the headmaster turned just as he was about to enter a clothes store to see a dark skinned young man with brown eyes and wild black hair wearing tan shorts, a very light white shirt that was unbuttoned to show of his toned bare torso and a silver pentagram necklace.

"Stephan good to see you! How is your vacation?" Brian walked into the store with Stephen following. He sighed and looked behind him to see Stephen watching him strangely. It was going to come out soon so he was happy the Empath was the one to see it first … maybe Stephen can help sooth things over when the twins find out.

Stephen chuckled "I'm on a vacation unlike you. You haven't had a chance to rest yet it seems. If what I'm feeling is right you went somewhere following your own senses as usual, but you felt nothing but irritation for the place … and then anger. What made you so angry … and worried? I'm sensing a big change in your life too" he wasn't a full seer, but he could feel peoples emotions and sometimes feel gain glimpses into the person's past. Stephen was a complicated and very skilled wizard.

"it's a long story" said Brian as he used the measurements stored in his wand to lead him through the store.

"like I said, I'm actually on vacation so I have time" Stephen smiled as the headmaster started looking through the children's clothes section realizing what the big change was, but his face fell as the heartbreaking explanation began "you want me to do a reading on him?" he could feel the headmaster approve without any words being said …

XXXXXXXXXX

Aster came back into her guest room with a cup of tea and checked on her adorable patient "I do believe you have recovered to the point where we don't need the blood potions, but you still need nutrition potions" she said happily as she added a spoonful of that potion into the fresh fluid filled bag. Since the most painful part of his recovery was done there was no need to keep him asleep so she blew out the candle. With a snap of her fingers the windows opened cleansing the room with fresh air.

Moments after drinking her tea she heard he floo come alive downstairs and heard two people come up the stairs "hello Stephen! As nice as it is to see you I hope my house won't become the location of a school conference" she shot a mock glare at Brian who smiled as he sat in the chair next to the child's bed.

Each person there were colleagues at Legerdemain School of Sorcery. Aster is obviously the healer who also teaches the Emergency Healing class and sex ed. Brian is the headmaster. Stephen is teaching Mind & Magic, which teaches kids about feeling the magic around them, connect with nature, create mental defenses and reach their spirit animals. He also teaches advanced classes in wandless magic and special classes for seers or children with unique senses to help them control their power.

The twins Brian is afraid of are the potions teachers for all years and they also assist in sex ed to present birth control potions … they can be pranksters too when they are mad and their main pet peeve is when someone they know seeks out potions from someone else …

"it's ok Aster, I don't plan on getting in touch with anyone else … thanks to Stephen helping me shop I got everything we need and I can take little Harry home with me" the headmaster smiled at the woman's pout, she would miss having Harry around and will worry about him.

Stephen grinned and hugged Aster "don't be sad. I'll stay if you're lonely" Brian chuckled as the healer playfully shoved the empathic wizard away. Stephen laughed as he ducked a pillow thrown by Aster and stood next to Harry's bed. He gently took the tiny hand in his and fell into a trance for a few seconds "dear Merlin …" Stephen said as he came out of his trance …

He sighed somberly, never letting the tiny hand go as he knelt down "he is afraid of the dark, small spaces, cats, dogs and spiders … all for good reasons. His aunt dumped a bucket of spiders on him one time before locking him in the cupboard. He was chased up a tree by a nasty dog. That squib you mention used him to round up her violent cats. As far as his punishments go it always shed blood and broke bones mixed with varying degrees of starvation. He never had a proper bath or have been without pain or even left the house since he went into their care. I saw a flash of when he was dropped off at the Dursleys. A woman was saying that she didn't like leaving Harry with them, but a wizard, I assume Dumbledore, convinced her otherwise … he saw his parents die by the killing curse and he knows nothing of magic or really his own name, which he thinks is 'freak' … you should move him before he wakes up"

Brian was pissed and knew the boy needed a lot of care, which was fine with him. He refused to let this little boy down … even if it means not going back to kill the Dursleys to avoid jail. Though he was considering hexing them long distance …

Aster frowned "you mean now? He is mostly recovered, but I wouldn't expect him to wake up for at least another day"

"yes … he probably shouldn't wake up here" Stephen shrugged as he saw the other adults look at him waiting for an explanation "this room looks vaguely like the Dursleys' guest bedroom. At least it would to him, his eyesight isn't great. It might scare him" Stephen commented.

The healer nodded "if he woke up like that then it would be less frightening at your home Brian. There is no way he'll mistake your home for anything in the UK. I'll get you the potions you'll need from my stock, but if you need more you'll have to … yeah" she trailed off with a snicker Brian paled and left to get pain relievers, calming potions and nutrition potions.

"I'm sure it won't be that bad- …" Stephen smiled sheepishly as Brian raised an eyebrow and stared blankly at him "I'll try to talk to Silvia and Sophia before word gets around" he promised knowing that now they were both involved and the twins will take their wrath out on both of them. Aster is safe since after all no one can blame her for taking care of a child in such bad condition and keeping quiet about it, but they were going to get pranked in some way.

Aster came back with a small bag "I have everything for a few days. This IV can go through the floo, but I'll come to help. One spoonful of nutrition potion three times a day until he wakes then have him drink half a vial twice a day. I did two already so one more before nighttime and … Brian I am only a healer … I make people healthy, but you might want to consider a scar removal salve. Some of them look painful"

"yeah I noticed … I'll have to talk to the twins soon. Harry shouldn't have those any longer than necessary, but I don't want to leave Harry alone for a while so Stephen you might want to get to smoothing things over soon" Brian gently picked up the small form and while being careful not to disturb the floating IV bag and needle went to the floo with Aster.

Stephen pouted as the trio disappeared in a rush of green flames "why me?" he whined and apparated out of the healers home. He reappeared in front of a home that looked like it was perfectly modified from the remains of an old factory with two long stories and lots of skylights. He walked up to the white door and knocked.

Two women answered. Both were tall curvy women with short black hair, deep dark full body tans, almost orange eyes and with the tube tops they were wearing you could see that they have three matching tattoos. A black cat on their upper right arms, a hawk on their upper left arms and on the back of their necks he knew there was a eye tattoo … there was only one difference between them and that was their hair. Do to a potion incident Silvia has a gold streak of hair and Sophia had a pink streak. They could reverse it being potion masters, but they liked it.

Silvia smiled "Stephen how nice-"

"to see you!" Sophia finished seamlessly "have you come to-"

"test our experimental potions?" Silvia completed.

"umm no, but I know a few people who could use that treatment …" the names Dumbledore, Ms. Figg, Petunia and Vernon came to his mind "never mind. I need to tell you something, but listen all the way through before poisoning me" the empathic wizard relaxed a little when he felt the good moods coming from the twins and hoped he'll come out in one piece. While he agreed Harry shouldn't be left alone he wished Brian or Aster was doing this …

XXXXXXXXXX

"there he's all tucked in" Aster put the blue sheets over the boy who was now in fresh red pajamas with paw prints on them being careful for the IV needle "awww you went all out Brian" she gushed as she checked out the other toys in the bedroom. A spot on the far wall was cleared for a large chalkboard and canvas to hang with sticky charms. Under them was a table with a sketchpad, fresh paints, crayon, markers and colored pencils.

In the closet was several clothes and cozy pajamas hanging over some fun toys. Stuffed animals including a big teddy bear, a plush snake, fluffy dragon and wolf, a train set with tracks, and a toy chest filled with tiny versions of both magical and non magical animals. Next to Harry's bed was a bookcase filled with several different books and with a red plush chair next to it to make a little reading nook.

Brian smiled as he took the little bag of potions from Aster "I wasn't sure what to get. I showed Stephen the pictures he drew and he said Harry felt comfort in drawing so that was a must, but I wanted to make sure he had a little of everything. The toys are charmed to be animated, but I turned them all off until he is ready for that and the magical books are in my room for now"

"you seem to have everything set so I'll leave you to it. I'll come back the day after tomorrow to remove the IV so he hopefully won't wake up with it still in. I am using the full course nutrition potions, but he will still be hungry when he wakes up and if he's in pain one spoonful of pain reliever twice a day at most no more. Tell me once he's awake ok?" Aster said softly as she headed for the door.

"of course" he answered as he kneeled next to the bed. He vaguely heard Aster's steps go to the floo as he wondered if he should put a plush with Harry. Brian decided to place the wolf plush next to Harry and smiled as the small arms held the soft toy close even when asleep …


	3. Existence

**Warnings - manipulative Dumbledore/Ron/Hermione/Ginny bashing, sexual content, language, violence/abuse, Mpreg**

 **(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Yaoi M/M, Harem – top Harry x bottoms Draco / Tom (TMR) / Cedric**

 **Last Time:**

"of course" he answered as he kneeled next to the bed. He vaguely heard Aster's steps go to the floo as he wondered if he should put a plush with Harry. Brian decided to place the wolf plush next to Harry and smiled as the small arms held the soft toy close even when asleep …

XXXXXXXXXX

The child sleeping in the headmaster's tree house home slowly began to stir. Vivid green eyes fluttered open and the boy immediately curled up in panic expecting someone to hit him. if he wasn't tossed into the dark cupboard then that means his uncle wasn't done yet, but Harry slowly peeked through his fingers after a few seconds of silence …

No one was hitting him?

That was very strange and wasn't the only thing. He was also not in pain for the first time in his short life or at least far less pain. The scars still bothered him, but these soft clothes on him felt very nice.

A trick …The boy couldn't help but think this was a trick as he cautiously uncurled from his defensive position to look around. A gasp escaped the child's lips as he spotted the fluffy wolf toy next to him. Harry's tiny hands held the soft toy close to him as if he thought it would disappear. With he soft toy comforting him he risked looking around he room.

A gasp escaped his lips and he slipped out of the bed not realizing that he had a IV in his arm only hours ago. Right now he was more interested in the fact that there was no wall! Tiny hands reached out to explore, but there was without a doubt no glass between him and the balcony. He walked out onto the balcony and stared out in awe at the sight of the treetops. The weather was perfect and the tree connected to the building gave a bit of shade on half of the porch. As he stood in the shade he tried to touch some vines that were hanging down, but each time his fingers got close a breeze blew it out of reach making the boy pout. He shrugged it off and kept looking around.

It was amazing! Harry smiled as a few colorful birds he never saw before flew passed the roof of the building he was just in. He could just barely see three other blurry buildings up in the trees like this one and through his blurry vision he could see the rope bridges connecting them. It was so lovely and peaceful, but how did he get here?!

The sound of heavy boots coming towards the startled Harry from his thoughts and he saw a man headed across one bridge. He squeaked fearfully and darted under the bed with his toy praying the man didn't see. If he was seen with a toy that wasn't his he knew he'd be beaten and wherever his relatives were they will hurt him too.

XXXXXXXXXX

Brian sighed as he sat in his office section of his tree house complex "Harry is only four so he has a year to recover before school starts. That will make things easier for him. Maybe I can ask the twins for something to correct his eyesight as well as the scars. It is not common that an adoption potion fixes eyesight … I think that should be fine since Gringotts is only doing a few abuse diagnostic spells so healing him won't effect those results. After the scans and adoption potion I can ask the twins about potions to reverse the effects of the malnutrition since he should be at a healthier weight by then. Aster did say Harry isn't strong enough to start those now … he nearly died that day" Aster showed him the results from the day he found Harry. It was clear … if Brian wasn't there or even a few minutes later Harry would be dead.

The blonde headmaster looked out sadly at the balcony where little Harry was sleeping. His office had a perfect view so he can watch over the boy as he finished up his work. Technically school doesn't restart for a couple months, but he now has to make some arrangements to make a more flexible schedule so he can take care of Harry until he starts school too.

That means that the DADA professor and Deputy Headmaster, Greg Goldman, will have more things to do for a while, but Brian was sure Greg would be alright with it for a while. For now everything was settled. Harry has his room, the IV was removed a few hours ago and hopefully he can help him understand magic.

"he's up, I was right … green eyes" Brian felt his heart clench as he saw the boy curl up into a protective ball. The poor thing must be expecting to be hit. The headmaster was positive that leaving his office now might really spoke the boy so he waited.

A smile kept to his lips as he saw Harry calm down and clutch the fluffy wolf toy "he can't go around blind until he gets a vision correcting potion … this will work for now" Brian tapped a pair of sunglasses he had laying around with his wand and changed them into regular slim nearly frameless glasses. The measurements he took from Harry before came in handy, but he needed little Harry's prescription. Sadly that means he will have to use magic in front of Harry.

Well he knew he had to introduce Harry to magic eventually so maybe the simple prescription spell will be the best way to ease him into it. He wanted to tell the boy the truth right away anyway so he put the glasses in his jacket pocket.

The headmaster looked over towards the bedroom and saw Harry and his wolf exploring the balcony. A chuckle escaped his lips as he watched the little boy try to get a vine not knowing that the charms for safety prevented little hands from getting a hold of such things. The pout he saw was amusing and the awe on the boy's face was so good to see, but it quickly became a sad moment when that awe turned to fear as Harry heard him start walking across the rope bridge. The child's eyes must be bad if the boy couldn't see him in his office or even think he was there until he started walking … the sections of the tree house weren't more than 25 or so feet apart at the farthest distance, which was the distance between the main section and the library section … the office was closer though not as close as the living room

It wasn't surprising to walk into the bedroom and find that the boy had hidden himself. He knew Harry was under the bed, but didn't want to point it out in case he scared the boy so instead he casually walked passed the bed. While humming a little tune he went to the balcony and flopped down. For a few minutes he just laid there on his back letting Harry see exactly what he was doing and where his hands were, which remained folded behind his head.

"I know you're there little one and let me start by saying that you are not a freak and your aunt and uncle gave you to me. You won't be in their care anymore nor will you be hurt by them ever again … would you like to join me out here? I will not hurt you" Brian waited silently without moving until he heard the soft shifting of little feet. He slowly looked over and smiled at the far to tiny four year old who didn't have the wolf now "hello little one, would you like to bring your friend out too? He seems lonely under the bed"

Harry blushed at the kind tone and slowly reach back under the bed and pulled out the stuffed wolf. While clinging to the wolf as if someone may take it away he stood next to Brian although it was just out of the headmaster's reach …

"my name is Brian Isaac White, what's your name?" Brain asked as laidback as ever even though he was truly dreading what the boy may say. For once Brian prayed his insanely accurate friend, Stephen, was wrong, but it wasn't meant to be as the boy looked confused before finally saying …

"freak" Harry responded.

Brian closed his eyes to control his rage, he wished he could do something to those muggles. Once he was calm he looked at the boy who seemed nervous "that isn't true little one"

"it isn't?" Harry looked so confused. He has always been called freak, but this man is saying that he isn't one. What is the truth?

"no it isn't and no you aren't a freak. Your name is Harry James Potter and your aunt and uncle lied about many things" Brian very slowly sat up and leaned on the knee pulled up to his chest "would you like to hear a story?" Harry nodded hesitantly despite his excitement. It saddened Brian to think the child may never have been read a story or had toys beyond broken crayons, but that will change "years ago a man went insane and for reasons unknown. He built an army and terrorized people all over the UK. This was no ordinary man, in fact, he was a powerful wizard"

The headmaster paused as he saw Harry flinched in fear "he could wield powerful magic and for a time it seemed like no one would stop him from, that everything was hopeless. Until one night … the crazed wizard for some reason also unknown attacked a young couple. Both mother and father were killed trying to save their one year old son from death. With the parents gone the wizard pointed his wand at he boy in he crib and threw a deadly curse, but to the wizard's shock the curse flew back at him. That night a small child saved the UK from the powerful wizard's wrath … what do you think about that story little one?"

For a few seconds the boy seemed scared to speak as if believed that he'd get hurt for saying the wrong thing "Magic is evil. Magic doesn't exist." Harry said softly, but clearly as if he has been told it and forced the repeat it several times.

Brian sighed, this was not something the boy should've had to endure "that seems weird doesn't it? How can something not exist, but be evil?" the little boy looked confused "your aunt and uncle have lied to you. Magic is very real, in fact, that story I told you is true" Harry stayed quiet as he listened "you are the little boy who stopped the wizard and your parents were wizards too. You and I are both magical too. Have any strange things happened around you before?"

Harry seemed nervous and took a couple steps back "yes"

"that is accidental magic. It's not something you can control nor should you feel scared of it. Your aunt and uncle were afraid and jealous because you have a power that they don't. That's why they hurt you, but you never deserved it, do you understand?" Harry tightened his grip on his toy and nodded slowly, but Brian was sure the boy was trying to avoid a punishment by agreeing "I can prove magic isn't evil, would you like to see?"

The little boy nodded tentatively and watched as the blonde man pulled a pair of glasses out of his tan short sleeved jacket. Brian smiled and handed them to the boy. Harry, being too scared to defy orders took the gasses and put them on the same way he has seen Petunia put her reading glasses on. He couldn't see a thing …

"hold still" Harry stiffened as the bode man pulled out a black stick and tapped his glasses. The boy's eyes widened as his vision began to sharpen "is magic evil if it can help you see?" Brian asked as he watched the boy look around in awe at the knew details he didn't see before. Harry stayed quiet, but looked less afraid "Harry I adopted you, do you know what that means?" the little boy shook his head "it means I want to take care of you as your father"

Harry's eyes looked big and so full of hope "you're my Daddy?"

Brain chuckled "yes and I will take care of you"

"I don't have to go back?" Harry sniffled as he started tearing up.

"I made all the arrangements. You will never go back to your relatives and no one can make you. Save for a couple last things it's all done" Brian was nearly knocked over as the boy hugged him, but he didn't care. He ignored the flinch as he hugged Harry back. Harry didn't mean to flinch, it was just a natural response considering what he has gone through "this room is all yours too along with everything in it, but you can explore later. Lets get you some food" he said as the boy started to calm down enough so Brian could gently wiped the tears away.

A squeak came from the little boy as Brian effortlessly stood up with Harry and the wolf held firmly in his arms and walked through the house. Harry gazed in wonder as they went down the stairs to a kitchen and dining room that had the same amazing view as his room. Brian set him down in a chair at the table and set a bowl of fruit in front of Harry.

"go ahead and eat what you can Harry" said Brian as he fixed a plate of scrambled eggs. Harry shyly nibbled at a piece of banana. No one ever took care of him before! Petunia and Vernon never gave him more than bread and water, but here he was given these tasty fruits. A cold feeling of dread hit him as he let himself think of the words his aunt used to say to him …

" _you're a waste of space no one wants! Get to work and earn your keep you ungrateful brat!_ "

A waste of space … would Brian get rid of him if he didn't do certain chores? They didn't talk about that! He had no clue what to do to earn his keep!

Brian put a plate of eggs, a glass of milk and one piece of buttered toast with the vial of the nutrition potion and saw the little boy was deep in thought "are you ok Harry?"

The green eyes looked up at him timidly "what are my chores?" he asked as Brian poured half of the potion into a cup.

"chores …" Brian sighed, he didn't want to give the boy chores, but this would be a good chance to start good habits "you only have to worry about recovering and taking your medicine for now, but afterwards you will have to keep your room tidy, doing your best in school and listening to the rules. Rule 1, is to tell me if you're in pain or hungry. Rule 2, is for both of us and it's to tell the truth. Understand?"

Harry looked a little shocked as he hugged his wolf "that's all?" the Dursleys had 20 different chores and more than 30 rules for him only including 'freaks don't sit on the furniture' so this was very different, but Harry's mind narrowed in on one word "school?"

"yes. I'm the headmaster of a school for kids like you. You'll learn all about magic and how to use it with other kids your age" the headmaster saw excitement in the child's eyes and chuckled "in one year you start school, but for now drink half this" Brian handed Harry a cup with half of the potion in it "it won't taste good, but really no medicine does. Just drink fast"

The young child screwed his nose up at the smell, but set his wolf in the seat next to him , took the cup and he gulped it down "yucky" Brian laughed and pushed the food closer to the boy who was eager to eat something to get the taste out.

"eat what you can, but don't make yourself sick" the blonde felt a bit sad as he watched the boy eat. It was like watching someone who was starving eat and he had a feeling this was the first time the boy has had milk. Harry's eyes sparkled as he tried the creamy beverage like it was a it was the best treat he ever had. Aster told him to start with small light meals until Harry was used to eating so he did, but the small meal wasn't completely finished. He didn't eat much for a boy his age and Brian vowed to change that.

After finishing as much could he started to feel sleepy. He never had a full tummy before "umm … Daddy?" Harry said hesitantly not sure if it was really alright to call this man that.

Brian smiled, it felt really amazing to be called that "yes Harry?"

"will I have your name?" asked Harry. Dudley had the last name Dursley like Vernon and they always thought it was something to be proud of, but his Daddy said his name wasn't White but Potter.

"the name is one of the last things we need to handle. We have plenty of time talk about it since we don't need go and get the adoption potion for a couple weeks" Brian noticed Harry's eyelids droop slightly and slowly scooped the boy up and picked up the wolf too. The boy was still recovering so it made sense that he'd be tired especially after eating a real meal that filled him up.

"adoption potion?" Harry mumbled as he tried to fight off the sleepiness.

"a potion, like your medicine, is a magical liquid that can do many things. An adoption potion is one that will give you some traits that I have" said Brian as he tucked Harry into bed and placed the boy's new glasses on the side table.

"will I be big and strong like you?" the boy murmured as he slow fell asleep.

The headmaster smiled "I have no doubt little one, go to sleep" he gave Harry the toy wolf to cuddle and watched as the boy finally lost the battle with the Sandman and fell asleep. Brian gently ran his fingers through the black hair before getting up to call Aster and tell her about what happened …


	4. Hissing Hatchling

**(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Yaoi M/M, Harem – top Harry x bottoms Draco / Tom (TMR) / Cedric**

 **Last Time:**

The headmaster smiled "I have no doubt little one, go to sleep" he gave Harry the toy wolf to cuddle and watched as the boy finally lost the battle with the Sandman and fell asleep. Brian gently ran his fingers through the black hair before getting up to call Aster and tell her about what happened … handprints

XXXXXXXXXX

Aster sat down on he couch with Brian and smiled as she watched Harry play with the now animated toy wolf in the living room section of he tree house "he has become much calmer around magic now"

"yeah, it only took a couple weeks … he was so scared when I first turned the charms back on the toys" Brian smiled softly as Harry settled down with his wolf toy who is name Mickey and started coloring.

"when is the appointment at Gringotts?" Aster asked softly so as not to startle Harry.

"tomorrow afternoon actually, I have to explain about the goblins and the possible exams they will perform … I hope he won't be scared" Brian frowned more than a a little nervous about how Harry would react if he met the goblins. The last thing he wanted was to stress Harry.

The healer smiled "don't worry yourself. The goblins are very good at handling these kinds of situations and we can give Harry a calming potion before going. Are you sure you want me to come too? Harry hasn't completely warmed up to me yet"

"just because he calls me Dad doesn't mean he is calm around me all the time. Harry gets scared easily, which is understandable considering what he went through. I just want him to have two people he knows there so he won't be too scared" said Brian as he saw Harry run over his room and come back with a small figure of a basilisk charmed to slither around and hiss "he seems to like the serpents the best" Brian chuckled as Harry seemed to pretend to listen to the snake.

"have you thought of any names Harry or do you want to keep your own?" Aster asked softly, but they were shocked at the response. As always Harry shyly avoided eye contact with Aster and a set of hisses came out. Both Brian and Aster blinked in shock as Harry hissed softly always watching the toy basilisk, but stopped when Brian burst out laughing.

"hold on one second little one" Brian slid off the couch to join Harry on the floor and took one of the pieces of papers Harry didn't color on. The headmaster held it between Harry and the toy snake blocking the mini basilisk from view even though Mickey was pawing the paper playfully "now try talking" Brian said softly.

Harry tilted his head in confusion "Daddy gave me a book of names to look at and we read most of it … I think I like …" Harry trailed off shyly a little afraid though he knew he shouldn't with these people. Poor Harry was behind most children his age in much more than weight and height. The child's education suffered immensely as well because of his muggle relatives. In fact the boy couldn't read, write or even identify any animals beyond cats and dogs. The child knew more about kitchen items than toys, but Brian has had a lot of fun helping Harry learn and there's no doubt that Harry will be up to par with others kids his age by school time.

Brian grinned and patted Harry's head gently "there's no wrong answer. Which did you like?"

"Matthew … and Anthony" Harry blushed shyly, but he just couldn't resist glancing at the paper separating him from the toy snake, which was still hissing.

"both are excellent names, but let me explain why I'm blocking your snake first. Harry there are people who can speak to snakes and some reptiles. It's a very rare gift that only a handful of magical people are born with each year. When Aster asked you what you wanted as far as your name goes you hissed back as you were looking at the snake. What is the snake saying?" Brian asked as Aster was beaming with excitement.

"it says …'cute little hatchling' … 'slither with me' … 'keep your scales shiny' and 'my eyes are deadly' … was I hissing Daddy?" Harry asked, he looked scared. This was something his aunt would freak out about.

The headmaster chuckled as he pulled the boy into his lap with Mickey bouncing next to him "it's nothing to be afraid of. The language is called Parseltongue and you know someone who speaks it too" Brian pointed right at the healer.

Green eyes widened in excitement "you speak Pars-… persel … Perseal tongue"

Aster giggled as Harry butchered the name of the serpent language "it's Parseltongue and yes. I'll help you learn when you're speaking it and not English. It can be hard to tell some times. Just don't look a snake while talking because you will go straight to Parseltongue until you learn to control it" Aster couldn't help but smile as Harry finally met her eyes and smiled at her.

Brian smiled still holding the paper in front of the basilisk "I knew that these toys were made all over the world with snake speaking children in mind, but I never knew what they said … guess it wouldn't be a good idea to put a recording device in a snake's face and put it in the toy"

"doing that would guarantee a not so friendly response. Someone who speaks Parseltongue has to check to make sure it's child friendly" said Aster who was very amused at the suggestion.

A ringing made Harry jump slightly in fear, but Brian gently patted his hair comfortingly "it's ok little one, it's just my phone" the headmaster smiled as he pulled out the cellphone from his jacket pocket without moving Harry from his lap and answered "Brian here … ok, I'll see you in a minute" Brian hung up and put the phone back "ok Silvia and Sophia are coming with some things. Harry remember what we talked about with the floo"

Harry nodded "it's not as scary as it looks"

"exactly" Brian with a smile that hid his worry very well. Only one week earlier he thought Harry was comfortable enough around magic to activate the animating charms on the toys, but once the wolf toy started moving he screamed and if there weren't safety charms around the home Harry would've fallen out of the tree house. Granted Brian realized the fear was actually more about the fear of dogs than magic, but Harry didn't warm up to most of his toys right away until the last couple days.

Magic was certainly interesting to Harry, but he was still nervous as if he expected Petunia or Vernon to suddenly come flying around the corner and hurt him. Really the worst moment so far was when Harry's magic flared and accidently knocked over a set of plates causing them to crash to the floor. Brian has never seen a child so scared and about something they can't control, but Harry got even more fearful when Brian came to comfort him.

Unfortunately the child's magic flared up again and the forks started dancing with the spoons. Brian couldn't resist laughing at the sight, which did calm Harry down. After all no one laughed at his 'freakish doings' as Petunia calls them and that was a turning point for them. Harry finally feeling safe with Brian. For a while Harry was afraid that the man he liked, the man he wanted as his Daddy, would get rid of him once he found out how big of a freak he was, but that hasn't happened. No bout of accidental magic or anything swayed the man. Harry was so happy to have someone truly want him …

The white haired healer smiled softly as Harry held onto to Brian's jacket with his tiny hands. Aster was relieved that the twins were coming. She met with them earlier that week when Harry healed more and described Harry's scars and eyesight issues … and get more nutrition potions since Brian refuses to leave Harry. Although it really was a good excuse Aster suspected he was a little nervous about being within range of the twins by himself.

After hearing what Aster had to say twin potion masters believed that a more powerful scar removing salve will be needed to help with the painful scars the little boy has. Since that point Sophia and Silvia have spent the entire tie brewing the potions to heal eyesight, remove scars, a potion for helping him regain the height he lost due to malnutrition and a different type of nutrition potion to help him gain some much needed weight. Today is the day the twins have finished the potions and first day they meet Harry. Stephen already informed them on Harry's situation and she told them to call Brian's cellphone first before visiting … Harry might not react well to someone sticking their face in burning embers to chat or seeing people burst into flames.

The fireplace roared to life with green and black flames and Harry yelped before burying face in Brian's chest "it's perfectly alright little one, they aren't scary … most of the time" he said softly and Mickey licked the boy's hand comfortingly.

"and what is that suppose to mean Brian White?" Harry peeked out from his Dad's shirt when he heard two women and saw the pretty tanned women with very short black hair and orange/amber eyes. Each woman had a different streak of color in their hair ad they had their hands on their hips while watching Brian with pouts.

The woman with the pink streak looked at Harry and smiled "hello sweety, I'm Sophia-"

The woman with the gold streak started speaking "-and I'm Silvia. Aster told us you have some scars that-"

"-are hurting you" Sophia finished perfectly. Harry nodded shyly, but didn't make eye contact. He just kept most of his face hidden by Brian's jacket, which is exactly how he acts around Aster "ok sweety, we have some things that will help" said Sophia as they kneeled on the ground next to Brian who was still holding the boy.

Brian smiled softly "can you show them that scar that hurts the most Harry?"

The head under the mop of black hair nodded and Harry moved to pull u his shirt to show a burn scar on his tummy "this one hurts" he mumbled softly.

Silvia looked just a heartbroken as her twin when they saw the scar and the skinny boy's emaciated state "ok sweety, this won't hurt at all" she said as Sophia pulled out a small bag from her pocket and very slowly made it grow in size so the boy was startled. Silvia was given a green jar by her twin and she opened it to show Harry the white cream in the inside "a little dab of our salve will help you feel much better. Is it ok if I put some on?" Harry peeked out shyly and he nodded again.

The twin with the gold streak in her hair took a little of the salve on her index finger and gentle wiped it on the long jagged scar. It was cold and made Harry shiver a little, but the little boy could feel the tight retracted skin ease almost instantly. Feeling the strange prickling sensation that followed made Harry look at his scar and his eyes widened as he saw the scar fade away.

"thank you" Harry said softly with the toy wolf nuzzling his hand.

Sophia smiled "we are happy-"

"-to help sweety" Silvia finished perfectly as she dabbed some more salve on her finger "now what other scars bother you?"

Brian smiled as Harry tried to not answer. The boy always tried to not be a bother to people. Hell, if Brian wasn't as observant as he was he may not have noticed that Harry was in pain and was trying not to waste the pain relieving potions, but like always the headmaster wasn't going to let him get away with being in pain "we talked about this Harry. What you supposed to do when you are in any amount of pain?"

"I have scars that hurt on my back, arms and right leg" Harry said softly feeling a warmth in his chest knowing his Daddy just wanted to take the pain away.

The blonde man smiled "very good Harry, I'm going to move you"

A squeak escaped Harry's lips as Brian gently turned him and pulled the back of his shirt up reveling the horrific assortment of scars. The sight made Sophia tear up a little. Both twins have helped children heal after they were saved, but it never got easier and this was one of the worst situations they have seen. A part of them wanted to go with Brian tomorrow to see the full extent of the abuse from the scans the goblins will run or at least to make sure Harry was alright, but they were strangers to him and didn't want to overwhelm the boy. For now they will settle for healing the scars to make Harry more comfortable.

"are you excited to go with your Daddy to the bank tomorrow?" Sophia asked as her sister applied the salve making each scar disappear.

Harry nodded into his Dad's chest "yes, I get to pick my name" he mumbled shyly peeking out quickly to look at the women. The cool salve being spread on felt really good and each time it was applied Harry felt a little the tight painful scars go away. this was really happening! Nearly every night of his short tragic life he hoped for a kind person to take him away and Brian comes. Now these nice people are getting rid of his scars. He'll soon have a new name and take a potion that will make him more like his Daddy … Harry was so happy!

Silvia grinned as she dabbed some salve on the last scars on Harry's back "have you decided on a new name?"

"Harry has some ideas, but no decisions yet. That's ok though, there's plenty of time" said Brian as he gently ruffled Harry's hair unknowingly making little Harry blush.

"really? Well maybe this will help clear things up a bit" Sophia exclaimed as she reached into the potions bag and pulled out a vial filled with a clear gray liquid "Harry this is a special potion that will make it so you don't need glasses anymore" she explained as Silvia finished healing the scars on the boy's back.

Brian looked down at Harry "want to take it now Harry?"

Harry peeked out from his Daddy's shirt "yes please" he turned to take the vial. Sophia uncorked it for him and didn't let go until the tiny hands had a good grip. It wasn't very tasty at all, but Harry noticed that most potions weren't. However potions worked fast and were really effective. The pain relieving potion made him a big potion fan already and he couldn't wait to start learning. After a second his eyes got blurry and removed his glasses.

"how is it? Seeing better?" Aster asked ignoring the twins' pouting. Of course it worked since they made the potion!

Dazzling green eyes glanced around the room in excitement before blushing shyly "it's brilliant, thank you" Mickey was howling in excitement.

The twins beamed at the adorable child and spoke in perfect sync "you're very welcome sweety"

The next few minutes were spent getting rid of all the other scars. Harry had to undress a little, but he was ok with that since his Daddy was there. The last scar to be removed was the lightening bolt on his forehead. After that the twins gave Brian a set of potions.

"now this potion is for Harry's height, stick to on table soon with each meal" said Silvia as she pulled out a set of two vial filled with a purple potion.

"and this is one for helping this little sweatheart get to a healthy weight faster. Just add one tablespoon with the regular nutrition potion" Sophia explained.

"we also have some calming potions-"

"-in case you need it and some more regular nutrition-"

"-potions. Now we'll let you have fun with your Daddy, but first-"

"what's your favorite color?" both the twins asked together after taking turns talking. Brian suddenly felt nervous. He knew the twins weren't going to let him off the hook dealing with another potion master … even if it wasn't really his fault since it's the bank's protocol. Hell he never even met the person brewing the adoption potion. Either way he will get pranked and if he ever meets this potion master involved with the adoption potion he or she will be grilled on their expertise … this won't end well …

Harry smiled shyly "blue"

The twins grinned playfully "then it's settled! We'll turn something you like blue! Good bye little sweety" they headed for the floo, but both glanced at Brian before disappearing in green flames. Harry flinched, but it wasn't as scary this time. Aster suddenly bursting into laughter did startle him though and he glanced at the healer only to see her pointing at Brian. That's when he saw his Daddy's arms and looked up in shock.

Brian's entire body turned blue!

"I knew I wasn't getting out of this without something happening" Brian sighed, but couldn't resist smiling when Harry let out a little giggle … maybe it was worth it … Soon after Aster said good bye and left giving Brian and Harry time to themselves to eat lunch.

"potions first little one" said the blue headmaster. He poured out the right amounts of each potion that was needed into one small cup and set it on the table for Harry. The child climbed up into the chair with his toy wolf bounding after him and the basilisk draped on his shoulders. It wasn't tasty again but Harry gulped down his potion mixture and waited for Brian to set some food on the table for them. Brian quickly set out some food, which was at set of sandwich wraps with chicken, cheese and lettuce and started eating with Harry.

The headmaster seemed to think about something as he munched "Harry would you like to meet my familiar?"

"familiar means magical animal friend right?" Harry asked cutely as he licked a drip of cheese off his lip.

"exactly, very good Harry! My familiar is a creature that lives in the waters near here. Her name is Gloria and I know she'd love to meet you, if you feel good enough to go that is. I didn't bring her up before since I wanted you to adjust a little to magic be fore seeing her" explained Brian, who was happy to see the blue fade from his skin. It seems the twins were forgiving this time or they didn't want him freaking the goblins out tomorrow.

Harry was bouncing in his seat "I want to go! … we don't need to take the fire shoot right?"

Brian blinked and then laughed "you mean the floo and no, we will take the floo to get to the bank tomorrow, but today we just take the elevators down to the forest floor"

"elevators! Ok!" exclaimed Harry excitedly.

The blonde chuckled "after lunch then. This will be interesting because she's one species of reptile that understands parseltongue so the three of us can chat"

"you can speak to her too Daddy?" Harry said in confusion. His Daddy said Aster could speak the language, but him too.

A smile came to Brian's lips as he wiped his hands with a napkin "I can't understand parseltongue, but the bond between familiar and its witch or wizard is so strong that you can understand them no matter the species" he explained and was happy to see the curious look cross his son's face.

The green eyed child eagerly finished his meal and as his Daddy put the dishes in the sink he went to put his toys and coloring things away. When Harry came back down he sat on the wrap around porch not far from the strange rectangular elevators made of sturdy wood slats. The vines growing out of the top and wrapped around the wood seemed to be the only thing holding the two elevators to the porch. Harry has always wondered how the elevators moved and now he'll be able to see for himself.

The headmaster chuckled as he saw Harry waiting "I'm coming" he scooped up the child and stepped in the left elevator. The all except two vines unraveled and flattened as they wove themselves together to form four wings. As the wings fluttered the last vines let go of the porch and they were off fluttering to the ground. Harry watched in awe as the trees became higher and higher. He had no clue how high his home was until they were settled on the dark forest floor. Almost no light came passed the treetops making for a vastly different scenery than what he sees from his room.

A gasp escaped Harry's lips that turned into a laugh as Brian set Harry on his strong broad shoulders and stepped out of the parked elevator. With surprising speed Brian moved through the dense forest and over the brush littering the ground. The little boy yelped in joy as they moved quickly. It wasn't long before they came to a glistening river, which is where Gloria lives …

"Gloria! Harry's here to say hello!" Brian called out. Harry looked at the water's surface wondering what sort of animal Gloria was. He learned about so many new creatures out there from playing with the toys and books with his Daddy so he was excited to meet the familiar. At first glance he thought he saw some drift wood, but the supposed drift wood glided quickly towards them and against the current no less!

Finally it was clear what Gloria was …

A massive crocodile …

The child's green eyes nearly popped out of his head as the large, 25 foot long or so, reptile strode onto the shore ' _Brian, it has been too long! Let me see the little hatchling_ '

"it's alright Harry, you can say hello" said Brian soothingly as he gently lifted Harry off his shoulders and set him on the ground.

Harry held his Daddy's leg nervously as the crocodile turned to see the child ' _hello Gloria_ ' he hissed in parseltongue.

Gloria's eyes widened just a little in surprise ' _a speaker! What a wonderful gift! … it's ok little hatchling, I never hurt children. The only humans who should fear my teeth are the ones who try to hurt you_ ' the crocodile opened its mouth and let a threatening rumble out from deep in her throat to prove a point.

Brian saw Harry relax and gently nudged him forward "she's right. She won't hurt you. You can touch her Harry" the headmaster was a little stunned when the little child only waited a few seconds before walking over to touch the armor like scales on his familiar. He was expecting Harry to be far more scared, but then Gloria wasn't a dog or purple faced muggle or a sudden burst of accidental magic. Harry might not fear a creature he hasn't met yet … perhaps a trip to the zoo is in order or the dragon parks "oh Gloria, Harry has been thinking of names for tomorrow, any thoughts?"

' _you have been through much for such a short life_ ' the crocodile hummed as the child ran his tiny fingers over her scales ' _this darling hatchling has already decided a powerful name that fits him, but he fears your thoughts on the matter because he believes you have a preference … also he desires another change_ ' Gloria chuckled at the child's shocked look ' _I feel much through my scales young one_ '

"is that true Harry?" Brian asked as he crouched down and frowned when Harry nodded quietly. Although he suspected as much it still hurt a little to hear Harry was afraid to talk to him, but then he has to remember that Harry has been through a lot and has only begun to realize the depth of a real parents love. The little boy needed time and Brian was very patient "you can tell me anything, there is no wrong answer. This is your name and you can pick whatever you want. I won't be mad as long as you love what you choose. What change do you want to make?"

Harry looked up at Brian breaking the automatic switch to parseltongue and answered in English "my … other name"

A blonde brow arched in confusion "other name? … oh, your middle name! You don't want James, is that it? Well that's a simple fix you can ask for tomorrow" Brian felt his heart melt as Harry smiled happily "do you know what you want as your middle name?"

"I don't know" Harry pouted, he just felt the need to completely change his name, but the four year old didn't think farther than that.

' _perhaps a ride on my back will clear your mind little hatchling_ ' Gloria offered, soon after Brian and Harry were riding on the back of the large intimidating crocodile upstream and enjoying the very different environment Australia has compared to the UK …


	5. Protective Snake

**(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Yaoi M/M, Harem – top Harry x bottoms Draco / Tom (TMR) / Cedric**

 **Last Time:**

' _perhaps a ride on my back will clear your mind little hatchling_ ' Gloria offered, soon after Brian and Harry were riding on the back of the large intimidating crocodile upstream and enjoying the very different environment Australia has compared to the UK …

XXXXXXXXXX

"which clothes do you want?" Brian asked the little boy gently. After the child shyly pointed to the clothes he wanted the headmaster dressed his son in the clothes, which were blue overalls, a red t-shirt and little red tennis shoes "now there's nothing to be afraid of … we're just going for an hour or so depending on how long the tests take"

Green eyes looked up at him pleadingly without glasses to obscure them "can I take Mickey with me?"

Brian smiled and nodded "of course you can, but there's still time. We don't have to be at Gringotts until after lunch so there's no rush"

"ok … can we … can we play animals until then?" the boy asked shyly.

"of course" Brian pulled out the chest of figurines all of which came to life and began moving near the boy or to each other "now what is .. this one?" Brian asked and pointed to the figure of a unicorn.

"unicorn" the little boy's eyes glittered happily as they continued the game for a few hours. After learning several new animals they heard the floo from the living room flare to life.

"it's alright, it's only Aster" Brian said as he felt the little boy jump in fear at the sudden noise "lets go say hi" the headmaster smiled as his son eagerly put his figures away and grabbed Mickey. It was one meal away before he and his son go to get the adoption potion.

Aster came into the kitchen with a big smile and saw Harry with Mickey in Brian's arms "not much longer now. Are you excited Harry?"

The shy child cuddled into Mickey as he nodded "yes, but I'm not Harry now" he said softly.

The white haired healer beamed as Harry was set down so Brian could cook "really? What name did you pick sweetheart?"

"Julian River White" the green eyes glittered with happiness and for the first time looked Aster in the eyes before quickly hiding his face shyly. Brian smiled at his son's actions. Little by little Julian was coming out of his shell.

"awww it's perfect Julian. How did you pick your middle name?" Aster asked as she took a seat at the table near Julian, but not too close since the little boy still seemed shy around her.

"Gloria helped me decide" Julian answered softly.

"you saw Gloria …" Aster said more to Brian who set out some of his mini homemade pizzas. She liked Gloria, but the crocodile isn't someone you have meet without advanced warning even for full grown adults who claim to be tough.

Brian chuckled, but there was a subtle hint of fear in his tone as the eyes of the over protective healer looked at him "Julian got along really well with Gloria" the headmaster set a couple pizzas on Julian's plate "eat what you can- oh! How about you take this first along with your medicines"

The little boy pouted as he was handed a potion. It was the nice potion that made him calm down, but it still tasted bad. Despite the taste Julian drank each one and happily ate the little pizzas as Mickey sat on the seat next to him with a wagging tail. After the three had a nice lunch they got ready to go.

"all set Julian- whoops! One sec!" Brian exclaimed in amusement as he got a napkin and wiped away a smudge of sauce from the boy's cheek "ok, now we're ready" he said he scooped Julian and Mickey up into his arms. As Brian followed Aster to the living room where the fireplace was Julian made the tiniest sound of worry "it's ok Julian. Floo travel just looks scary. Close your eyes and you'll understand" Brian smiled as his son buried his face into his chest without any hesitation. The headmaster and the healer stood in the fireplace. Aster grabbed some floo powder since Brian's arms were full with Julian …

A moment after he heard Aster say 'UK Gringotts' Julian felt a sudden rush of warmth, but then nothing except the sounds of a very different place. Feeling brave … or the effects of the calming potion … Julian peeked out and gasped in awe at the building they were in. It was amazing! The creatures running around or working at the counters were the goblins his Daddy mentioned and weren't as scary as he expected.

One goblin walked over to them "Brian White for the adoption potion and exams, correct?"

"yes and this is my son who goes by Julian now and my friend Aster" Brian introduced as they followed the goblin to a beautiful private room with a set of plush blue chairs around a pedestal and a coffee table.

"I am Ironclaw. I will be acting as a witness so once the potion master, Severus Snape, the goblin Griphook who handled your case thus far and the head of our bank, Ragnuk, all arrive we can start. Refreshments or snacks?" the goblin offered as some drinks and little cakes and cookies appeared on the table. Brian chuckled as Julian shyly took a cookie and said thank you …

A little while later Ragnuk arrived. All that was left was the potion master …

XXXXXXXXXX

Severus inspected the vial of purple liquid and nodded in approval. With the potion placed into a brown potions bag he was ready to leave. With one quick floo he was in Gringotts …

"perfect timing as always Severus" said Griphook as he came over to the tall potion master.

"indeed … I was wondering if I could sit in on the exams this time" Severus said though he knew it was usually allowed.

Griphook sent Severus a strange look before gesturing for the wizard to follow "I'm glad you want to because we arranged everything for you to be there"

That comment caught Severus completely off guard. Why would his presence be needed there? Sure the potion masters are allowed to sit in, but to have his presence arranged. Did he know the person adopting the child? That would explain why he would be wanted there, but who did he know who is adopting … no one and he knew no children being adopted. So suffice to say he was curious to see what was going on. After what seemed like a very long walk through twisting hallways they stood in front of a door he knew was the exam room …

Once the door opened he instantly took account of Ragnuk and Ironclaw's expectant glances. The other people he saw was an unfamiliar white haired young woman with violet eyes and an unfamiliar blonde man with blue eyes … oddly he didn't recognize anyone so why did the goblins look ready for an explosion …

Bark! Severus's eyes locked on an animated plush wolf in the arms of the small boy curled up in the blonde man's arms. At first he didn't see the tiny child, but now that he did he noticed something.

The large goblin nodded "now that Severus Snape is here with the potion we can start" Ragnuk said. The child shyly peeked up at the potion master with the most dazzling green eyes … it was Harry Potter! The scar was gone, but there was no mistaking those eyes. Severus was frozen in place. Why the hell was Harry, Lily's son, being adopted? Albus said he was being spoiled rotten by loving guardians in an unknown place. This can't be happening … but then again ... the goblins wouldn't have allowed any trickery in an adoption so what's going on?

Ironclaw internally sighed in relief as Severus finally sat down "ok Julian, hop up on the pedestal and we'll start. This won't hurt at all and if you want you can hold your toy"

Brian carried Julian to the pedestal and set him on since the boy was too small to hop up by himself. Once Brian sat down in the chair closest to the pedestal the runes Julian was sitting on started glowing "it's ok Julian, the runes are only scanning you. It will be over in a minute. See, Mickey isn't worried" the headmaster said softly when the boy whimpered fearfully despite the plush wolf cuddling with him.

Severus frowned in concern at the boy's reaction, which the witch noticed and explained "Julian suffered greatly for bouts of accidental magic because his other guardians hated magic. It took him nearly two weeks two warm up to the animated toys … I'm sorry, my name is Aster and that man is Brian White, Julian's father" she said quietly so Julian couldn't hear and smiled at Severus who simply nodded in greeting.

Lily's child was abused? Severus didn't show it, but he was horrified and beyond furious at this news. Harry was supposed to be loved not hurt in anyway, but according to the several black trimmed papers that appeared on the coffee table with the results from the pedestal scans the abuse was severe. Page after page of broken bones, sores, gaping wounds, starvation, burns and even more. The list was endless and the boy was barely four years old! Severus barely managed to keep from being sick by the time he finished it. The only comfort he found was that the three red trimmed papers at the bottom of the pile dictating everything post adoption proved that Harry- … no, Julian, was being cared for with love now.

"I see his eyesight was fixed and a large number of scars were removed" Severus said with approval. The goblins noticed that some treatment began just before the adoption, but considering the severe circumstances they decided to fudge a few things and not ask questions. Severus, however, decided to ask why Julian's bone rebreaking took place in Australia before the guardians signed over custody in a more private setting … and more importantly, he wanted the names of the people who abused Julian.

Aster nodded "yes, our local potion masters took care of everything and even made some nutrient potions to help him regain a healthy weight"

"indeed … however I see there is one issue that should be resolved" Severus said as he spotted something on the red trimmed paper. Brian immediately glanced at him in concern without moving away from the little boy, which was exactly what Severus wanted to see "it seems Mickey is in dire need of some stuffing" the toy barked as if offended and Julian giggled. Brian and Aster laughed at the entry Severus pointed out. It seems Mickey was scanned too …

"one more little test and we'll be done Julian" Griphook said as he and Ironclaw changed the settings on the sides of the pedestal. The ruins started glowing again, but the one piece of paper that appeared made the goblins growl.

Ragnuk hissed something in goblin speak and Ironclaw zipped out of the room "I'm sorry, but this soul scan, though not truly necessary, can't be done because someone has sealed off a large chunk of little Julian's magic meaning the runes can't see passed the bindings. I told Ironclaw to inform your local Gringotts" he said seriously. The humans looked furious save for Julian who didn't fully understand what that means "normally I would have this fixed immediately, but despite Julian's recovery so far he isn't strong enough for us to remove the bindings"

"so what do you propose?" Brian asked seriously as he picked up his son protectively.

The head goblin sneered "the results of this test change nothing. Your Gringotts in Australia can handle the binding removal once Julian is healthy enough and they can try the soul scan again. For now we can finish the adoption process"

Griphook laid out a parchment "full name?" he asked the little boy who didn't seem scared of him even though the runes scared him.

"Julian River White" the little boy said shyly.

Brian smiled at his son before looking at the goblins "will his name change his inheritance from his parents?"

"no, all vaults for the Potter family are locked by blood. You won't be able to open them even though you're his father except for the two vaults that are meant for his care, but he will always have them even without Potter in his name. He could call himself Nuggets King of the Hippogriffs, but it won't change his blood. Of course he won't get full access until he is of age. Now who is to be his new godmother and godfather?" Griphook asked.

"Aster is to be his godmother" the healer's eyes widened in happiness at the surprise and she tearfully signed the spot for the godmother and provided a drop of blood. Brian then thought a moment about who Julian's godfather should be. He knew many people who could be trusted with the boy's care should something happen, but there was something about Severus Snape that made him wonder. Brian was always one to trust his instincts and he felt that the potion master would ferociously protect Julian no matter what "and his godfather is, if he has no problem with it, Severus Snape"

Severus was startled by that decision. Yes, he knew Julian's mother and was her friend, but he had only just met the man. Despite the oddness with this situation he wasn't going to give up a chance to be a part of Julian's life so he took the offered quill and signed as instructed along with a drop of blood.

"very good, now you can give Julian the potion and we will share this information with your Gringotts. Everything belonging to Julian, which has not been touched, will be transferred accordingly. May your gold ever grow" Griphook said before leaving the room.

As Severus opened the potions case to get the potion Ragnuk commented "even though you aren't an employ you do offer your services to us. If any of our other branches need your services you are allowed to leave even internationally. Just thought you should know. May your gold ever grow" he said before leaving as well.

The potion master snorted in amusement. The goblins thought of everything. He shook his head and handed Brian the vial "one drop of your blood needs to be added and then Julian can drink it" he explained secretly hoping those green eyes don't change.

Brian did as told. With a prick of a finger a small red drop of blood fell into the potion and it was handed to the little boy. Julian smiled eagerly as his tiny hands took the vial carefully. After taking a deep breath to prepare for the nasty taste he drank every drop. For a second nothing obvious happened, but then Julian's messy hair unraveled into soft waves and slowly turned the same blonde as Brian's hair except with subtle red streaks. It seemed the major Potter trait was removed, but those eyes remained the same pretty green color. Severus was pleased to say the least.

"thank … you" Julian said to Severus through a little yawn.

"you're welcome Julian" Severus said as the child fell fast asleep in his father's arms "that potion would take a lot out of anyone. He will be asleep for a few hours as his body adjusts" he said as he followed Aster and Brian out of the room and down the halls. The plush toy fell silent so as not to disturb the little boy.

Aster smiled "we should let him sleep then. Thank you Brian, it's an honor to be his godmother"

"I could think of no one better … just don't tell the twins I said that" Brian said jokingly. Aster chuckled as she stepped into and flooed back to her own home "if you want to talk you can floo with me. Call me Brian. May I call you Severus?"

"yes and I will take you up on that offer" Severus said sternly. He needed to know exactly what was going on so he stepped into the floo with Brian and Julian. When the classic flames died down he saw that his was in the living room of a tree house like building in the middle of a forest. Brian went to put Julian to bed as Severus sat at the dining room table in the kitchen section. When Brian returned he finally asked the question he wanted answered "what happened to Julian?"

Brian chuckled humorlessly as he started heating some water for some tea "that's a long story and may involve some minor illegal activities like smuggling. Would you like a cup of tea?" Severus nodded and Brian set out two cups of tea before starting his explanation "I have very good instincts. I was labeled a semi-seer as a child because I always had a good feeling about situations and people's character. After becoming the headmaster of Legerdemain Academy of Sorcery here in Australia I started traveling over the vacation times. This year I decided to try the UK, which sucked, no offense" Severus shrugged it off, he didn't care "with magical Britain leaving much to be desired I went into muggle world … that's when I felt a strand of magic from someone who was dying"

"dying?" Severus gasped, his usually calm mask shattered. Did the child he vowed to protect really come so close to death when he was brewing a potion or drinking a shot of whiskey? Guilt hit the potion master like a lightening bolt …

"yes … Julian very nearly died. When I found the source of the magic I witnessed his muggle guardian kicking the young boy across the room … I stepped in right then and got Julian to Aster immediately … he would not have lived passed that night if I wasn't there" Brian said before sipping his tea.

The potion master said nothing for a while and just contemplated how incredibly lucky it was that Julian was still in this world "who was his guardian?"

"technically the family of three muggles who 'took care of' Julian weren't the only ones to involved. In fact, a wizard was paying them and a squib to make Julian 'humble' through verbal and physical abuse" the normally calm blue eyes of the headmaster turned cold and harsh as he looked at Severus Snape "what is your connection with Julian's aunt, Petunia Dursley, and Albus Dumbledore?"

XXXXXXXXXX

Albus smiled as he saw Severus Snape enter his office at Hogwarts "Severus my boy where have you been? I have been trying to track you down all day"

If Dumbledore could read Severus's thoughts he would be ducking for cover and fleeing for his life. Furious didn't even begin to describe how Severus felt right now. Brian told him everything. How Petunia, the one person Harry Potter should never have been allowed near, somehow got custody of him. How the Dursleys were being paid to hurt him and were ordered to by Dumbledore. How some squib was being paid to watch Harry and keep him in the dark about magic. Yes, he knew it all and Brian even let the potion master use Legilimens to see inside the Australian headmaster's mind so he knew it was true.

On that point, Dumbledore never let Severus see into his mind or even a memory in a pensieve so that already made Brian far more trustworthy …

The thought of slashing the old wizard's throat open with the sharp letter opener on the desk was very tempting, but the potion master refrained. Brian and Severus had a long talk and both were in agreement. No one must know about Harry being adopted and becoming Julian. The little boy was in no condition to put up with anything the UK or Dumbledore will do and Julian shouldn't have to. It wasn't anybody's business. Severus agreed to make sure Ms. Figg and the Dursleys keep up as usual so no one knows a thing. When the time comes for people to be waiting to see Harry Potter at Hogwarts Julian River White will be revealed. Even now no one can do anything, but by then Julian will be old enough to understand and healthy enough to put up with the inevitable tantrum … not that Severus or Brian will allow anyone to try anything …

Also once everything comes out Severus will deal with Figg and the Dursleys in a way befitting a former Death Eater. He won't get caught though, he will be there to see Julian grow up …

"sorry Albus. I was brewing and then I was needed at Gringotts to assist with an adoption. I didn't get your owl until a moment ago. What do you need?" Severus asked getting the feeling the old wizard was mad that he wasn't at his beck and call.

"very well" Albus said with a twinkle in his eyes though the potion master knew he didn't care "Harry's guardian informed me that there was a little incident with his accidental magic and they need some memory wiping potions and loyalty potions"

A dark brow raised "loyalty too?"

"yes, it seems Harry is quite the spoiled prankster like his father and we need to keep some of the muggles near him in line if we want to protect him" Albus said putting a little more emphasis on the word 'protection' so Severus would feel obligated to help Lily's son.

Severus scowled "the brat is becoming his father. I look forward to seeing him in detention one day" Dumbledore chuckled as Severus turned to leave "I will get that started, good day Albus"

Once he exited his floo at home Severus did decide to brew, but it wasn't what Albus wanted. He was going to first experiment with some things to invent a painful potion just for the people he will get rid of in a few years. As he watched the potion bubble he felt grateful again for Brian's intervention. There was no doubt in his mind that the loyalty potions wasn't for muggles … he would bet his potions lab that, if Harry was still alive a the time, Albus wanted it for Harry.

Little did the old fool know Harry Potter didn't exist anymore …

XXXXXXXXXX

Mickey bolted upright in the middle of the night. The plush wolf was designed by the Fairy Dust Toy Company, the very same company that makes friendly snakes for the Parseltongue speaking kids, and like all their plush toys Mickey is charmed to alert the child's parent if there is a problem.

Every other night Mickey would trot over to get Brian because Julian was having a bad dream, but this was different. Julian was rubbing his eyes in pain. The wolf bounded into the room across the hall and nuzzled Brian awake. Sensing something truly urgent Brian instantly bolted out of the bed and went to his son's side.

"Julian tell me what's wrong" Brian urged the small child in the bed.

Julian sniffled as he rubbed his eyes "my eyes hurt Daddy"

"don't rub them, that might make it worse … let me see" Brian said softly, but sternly. Julian lowered his tiny hands and slowly opened his eyes. Brian was shocked to see his son recoil in fear "Julian it's alright. It's only me … tell me what you see so I can help"

Calming down a little Julian looked at his Daddy "there are swirls of different blues all around you and flickers of red. I see white fuzz around Mickey and I'm glowing too! Daddy what's wrong?"

Brian smiled and kissed Julian's forehead "nothing is wrong. You just gained a rare trait from my family" he said calmly. It just figures the child that has a major trust issue with magic suddenly gains the ability to see auras …


	6. Treatment for the Soul

**(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Yaoi M/M, Harem – top Harry x bottoms Draco / Tom (TMR) / Cedric**

 **Last Time:**

Brian smiled and kissed Julian's forehead "nothing is wrong. You just gained a rare trait from my family" he said calmly. It just figures the child that has a major trust issue with magic suddenly gains the ability to see auras …

XXXXXXXXXX

Stephen smiled as he sat down on the floor next to the small child "hello Julian. You wouldn't remember me, but I met you when you were first brought to Australia"

"you did?" Julian looked up shyly.

"yep! I'm Stephen and I teach at the same school your Daddy works at" the dark skinned wizard grinned at he small child.

"really?" the little boy's eyes widened with curiosity.

Severus raised an eyebrow as Julian relaxed very quickly for being around someone new "odd … he has a unique gift" he commented as he watched the interaction between the dark skinned teacher and child from the kitchen.

Brian leaned against the counter top and nodded "Stephen is empathic so he can read peoples' feeling and, to an extent, make people relax. He teaches the M&M class for kids and extra sensory classes. I asked him to talk to Julian and help him gain control"

"control of what exactly?" Severus asked. It had only been one day since the adoption closed and Brian contacted him through Gringotts saying there was a simple change in Julian. Despite the fact the letter said everything was fine and that a professional was contacted Severus made a point of leaving the second the potion he had brewing was done. He somehow managed to get there before Stephen …

Brian grinned sheepishly "right, I never said … Julian inherited the ability to see auras from my family. I figured I should tell you before you tried dropping by and saw him panic"

A frown found its way to the potion master's face "seeing auras …" he sighed as he recalled how the poor boy reacted to the simple scan at Gringotts. The runes were enough to scare the boy so he could only imagine how Julian felt when he woke up and suddenly saw auras … he must've been terrified.

"now this, Julian, is a color wheel" Stephen said as he pulled out a plastic circle that went from nearly black on the outer edges to brighter shade by shade as you went to the white center and had a little lens made of glass stuck to the circle "now the first step is to learn which color means what. Take a look at your Daddy and tell me what you see"

Julian nodded and turned to Brian "lots of blues and a little red"

"yeah, that makes sense" Stephen chuckled and pointed to the blue section and tapped it making a little word appear in the lens that shifted to the blue section. The little word in the magnifying lens was 'calm' "blues are calm, but lots of different blues means he can be lighthearted and curious. Your Daddy is very accepting of other people's ideas. Red means temper. If by some chance your Dad gets angry it is strong, but you said a little red so he doesn't get mad easily or very often. Now what about your godfather here?"

The pretty green eyes turned to look at Severus "red … lots of red and little black dots, but its really … it doesn't fly around like Daddy's"

Stephen frowned glanced at the potion master as if asking permission before he explained. Severus wasn't an idiot. He knew where this was going and nodded knowing Julian would learn this eventually "ok … Julian you made a good point. Lets first look at colors then the aura shape. Red was temper. Severus is easily angered by certain things and he is very strict, but this is where the shape comes in. You said his aura doesn't fly around, but you do mean its more like a glow?" Julian nodded as he glanced at Severus almost nervously as the man would be mad at him "that's good. The tight aura you see, Julian, is a sign that he has very good control. Severus here won't go flying off the handle no matter how mad he gets. Your Daddy isn't so controlled, but he's very laid back. Now what about me?"

The little boy pouted slightly knowing that the black dots were ignored, but he was too scared to question an adult "green and blue … and it's swaying"

"green is a color that is close to blue, but I'm more grounded … I'm laid back, but really not the curious or adventurous sort like your Daddy. Swaying in an aura is a sign of control, but no where near the level of control Severus has. Are you ready to see your aura?" Stephen asked knowing the little boy probably wouldn't want to see the aura around him. The boy was clearly trying not to look at his own body …

Julian looked reluctant, but after a couple minutes he nodded shakily and Brian walked out of the kitchen with a little hand held mirror. The headmaster had tried to get Julian calm enough to at least see his own reflection, but when Julian refused Brian didn't push it and that's when he called Stephen. He gave Julian the mirror and the adults waited for the boy to relax enough to look into the reflective surface.

"lots of black dots, white, some pink and yellow … it's prickly too" Julian tilted his head in confusion and touched the spot on his head where his lightening bolt scar used to be "this spot is different … it has black spots, but its gray and yellow"

"Julian could you touch my hand so I can see what you see?" the empathic wizard looked unconcern, but he actually was disturbed by the statement. The child's hand touched his hand and the empath had a vision. Stephen shrugged it off as if it was nothing "it's probably nothing. As for your colors white is purity. All children have an aura that's mostly white and it will change as you grow up. Yellow is fear or uncertainty, but pink is the color of love or trust. Do you know why you're pink?" Stephen chuckled as the boy smiled shyly and pointed at his Daddy who smiled and sat down next to Julian "I'm not surprised … now for the black dots … the best way to describe them is to call them scars on the soul. The dots are evidence that you went through something terrible or very sad or that someone hurt you and you never truly healed. There's more to your new sight and if you want I can teach you"

Julian nodded with a shy smile "yes please"

"not right now though. We can discuss this after lunch. Why don't you color for a while as I make lunch?" Brian suggested.

"ok Daddy" Julian said softly as he went upstairs to get some coloring supplies and Mickey.

Severus glanced in the direction the boy went before he shot the empathic wizard a look. Stephen nodded and got up with Brian pretending to help make lunch. It wasn't until Julian was in sight again and happily coloring that the headmaster flicked his wand to muffle their voices. Only muffle since complete silence might freak the boy out …

"that wasn't nothing was it?" Brian asked as he started cutting some veggies.

The dark skinned wizard frowned "Julian has a horcrux in his scar"

"what in Merlin's name is a horcrux?" Severus questioned a bit harsher than necessary, but this was Julian they were talking about. He was already feeling protective …

Brian glanced at Severus "blimey … the magical UK is frighteningly lacking in information. A horcrux is an object that contains a piece of someone's soul. Usually it's an inanimate object that the soul sliver can easily latch onto meaning it held a special significance for the person making the horcrux. A person would murder someone or suffer extreme trauma to break off a piece of their soul and place the soul sliver into the chosen object turning it into a horcrux in order to bind their soul to this world. An artificial immortality … it's relatively rare for it to be a living object, but it happens" he explained and saw Severus consider this before paling … he clearly realized who's soul piece it was "my thoughts exactly"

"a simple soul scan can find it and it can be removed- … what? What am I missing?" Stephen blinked in confusion as both other wizards looked concerned.

"unfortunately a soul scan isn't possible right now" Brian sighed as he placed some cheese on the food "the goblins tried yesterday, but they can't see through the bindings on his magic to do the test-"

"bindings?!" Stephen gaped.

It was horrifying to think someone would constrict such a gift. Stephen couldn't imagine why anyone would. He spent his much of his life teaching and helping children use their own powers and giving them stability, but now this. There are very few moments that Stephen feels angry, but this is definitely one of them.

At that moment Julian looked up at the sudden shift in the calm man's aura. The flash of red was hard to miss, but even when it calmed down Julian kept watching the adults talk. One thing was weird … he couldn't hear the words properly. The child, who came from an abusive home and depended on knowing what was going on when people were angry, became frustrated, which unleashed a bit of accidental. The magic clashed with Brian's muffling charm and broke it …

Brian just finished explaining what happened at Gringotts just in time for his son to unknowingly start listening in on them "-we can't do a soul scan until the bindings are removed and that can't be done until Julian is strong enough to handle it"

"so we can't do anything about that piece of that dark wizard's soul in his forehead … that should be fine. Soul fragments are weak and the soul seems harmless" Stephen said casually.

The potion master was not amused by this news "harmless is not a word to describe that mad man. I was a Death Eater. I know how sick he was and he became worse every day. Those who were actually loyal to him did everything to stay on his good side or they would suffer too. If the fact I was a spy got out or was even suspected I would've been tortured and killed … that thing should be taken away and destroyed before it hurts Julian"

The little boy flinched at the potion master's harsh tone. He touched his forehead wondering about the person who left the piece of soul in his head. A quick glance at the color wheel made him curious. With careful movements he tapped the gray section, which was the color not described and the little magnifying lens moved over the gray section …

Sad … the word that popped up in the glass was 'sad', but that was confusing. Julian tapped the yellow he saw in the unusual soul piece even though that color was explained already. The lens moved again …

Afraid … what Stephen said was true, but why would someone sad and afraid be dangerous to him?

"Severus … what you described is exactly what happens when someone makes a horcrux and never gets treated. That means that the dark lord you feared isn't actually insane. His body was suffering the side effects from a fractured soul … you heard what Julian said. The true dark lord's feelings are fear and sadness, which is represented by yellow and gray" Stephen said he helped get some dishes.

A disturbing thought crossed Severus's mind as he considered this new information "you mean … an entire war happened because one person didn't receive treatment … what other cases of this do you know of? You said murder or trauma can break a soul so could it have been completely unintentional from the beginning?"

Brian pulled his toasted sandwiches out of the oven and let them cool as he cut some fruit "the process is normally started by murdering someone, but it can be unintentional too. Young people who suffer a horrible loss or traumatic childhood or simply believe they killed someone can shatter their soul without them knowing. Well an abusive childhood isn't enough otherwise you'd see far more instances of this, but it is normally seen in those people. After the split everything goes slowly down hill and they may accidentally make more even if they don't want to"

"so we don't have to hurt him right?" the three adults blinked and looked down at Julian who somehow snuck up on them. It didn't take much to realize that the little boy broke the muffling charm "right Daddy?" Julian looked up at them with big pleading green eyes. Severus may have been terrified of the thought that Voldemort was still alive, but even he gave up fighting those green eyes.

"no Julian, when you're strong enough we'll get the soul fragment removed and placed into a protective orb so this man can be treated properly, ok?" Julian smiled at his Daddy "brilliant, lets have lunch. Come join us Severus. With our schools starting up again soon we need to consider some things. Especially if you want to be here for the binding removal"

A month passed and Stephen came by and taught Julian every other day. The little boy was learning fast for he was already starting to control what he sees. The ability to see auras is apparently only the beginning. As he learned to focus his mind using some meditation exercises that made the distracting colors gradually lessen so Julian could shift to sensing them instead. Normally starting this class in school reveals powers like seeing auras, but Julian developed early, which is why Stephen insisted on teaching the boy right away.

The exercises were interesting … Severus was shocked to see that they were basically Occlumency for kids. Stephen had to explain that children learn the 'difficult' skill infinitely better than anyone over the age 10, which was amazing to hear. The M&M class, Mind and Magic, was taught to five year olds and it was the supposedly difficult art of Occlumency, but just in more depth than plain mental shields. Severus was very intrigued with this and began looking into all the information that wasn't available in the UK. which was a lot …

Over the next few weeks Brian became busy with the duties of a headmaster. He did manage to give several of his duties to Greg Goldman so he could care for Julian, but it was tricky with the meetings. Severus actually came by to watch Julian once in a while despite his teaching duties. In fact, he used grading papers and brewing as an excuse so no one in the UK would bother him. Apparently no one spends much time around the professor so he had time as long as he got those things done.

That, however, made it easy for Severus to secretly check on Ms. Figg and the Dursleys to make sure they were doing their parts. The Dursleys always cashed the money they got and Ms. Figg always sent in the monthly report so Dumbledore hasn't suspected anything yet. When Severus gave Dumbledore the potions he wanted he noticed Ms. Figg's neighbors started acting more friendly … it was clear to the spy that she was using the loyalty potions on them …

Frankly he didn't care. Once people noticed Julian wasn't going to be at Hogwarts the loyalty potions will stop being made and slowly wear off. Then the former Death Eater will reveal himself to those foolish muggles and that squib …

By the time Christmas came around Julian was deemed healthy enough for the bindings on his magic to be removed …

XXXXXXXXXX

Severus looked up from his desk as someone flooed into his office unannounced "Lucius … to what do I owe this pleasure?" he said hiding the irritation he felt. He had to be at the Australian Gringotts in a few minutes so he didn't feel like wasting time on the arrogant Malfoy who didn't even tell him about having a son despite claiming they were friends. If it wasn't for Narcissa asking for child fever potions he would never have known about Draco. It made him wonder if Lucius, a truly loyal Death Eater, suspected that the potion master was a spy and resented him for it … he was very tempted to tell the pureblood that his dark lord wasn't evil, but he restrained himself … for now at least.

"Narcissa asked for you to join us during our winter party. It will be the day before Christmas Eve" Lucius's eyes narrowed as he looked closer at the professor "have you been getting out more?"

"yes, why?" Severus asked genuinely confused as to how the man knew.

"you seem to have gotten some sun. You're less pale" Lucius said almost suspiciously.

The potion master snorted "I became irritated with the subpar brewing equipment and the dunderheads wasting my time so I found better accommodations, which are apparently sunnier as well"

Yes, the potions lab in the tree house section near Brian's office was excellent …

Lucius quirked an eyebrow "subpar you say? … perhaps I should make a donation"

"indeed" Severus mentally rolled his eyes knowing full well that this donation wouldn't appear until Draco was in school "do tell Narcissa that I will come to the party" with that the blonde pureblood left through the floo's green flames.

Finally Severus was allowed to leave. With a simple spell to shrink his papers and put them in his potions bag he flooed to the Australian branch of Gringotts with his bag in hand. He wanted to be prepared in case Julian needed anything. According to the information he researched in Brian's library it can be painful to remove bindings even if the person is young and there hasn't been enough time for their magic to build up. Julian has some very expressive accidental magic so this could hurt.

Barely a few steps out of the floo and into the more muggle office like building Severus heard a little voice "Uncle Sev"

Severus smiled as he saw Julian come over to him and kneeled in order to hug him. It's good to see that the boy's fear of touch has diminished a great deal over the last months "hello Julian, are you ready?" he asked as Brian got up from the seat not far away and he and Aster went over to them.

"yeah, but I couldn't bring Mickey" Julian pouted sadly at not being able to have the plush with him.

Brian frowned "I know you miss him, but the binding removal could mess with his charms …I checked us in with the goblins. They gave us room 2800 on the under ground floor 200. We just take the elevator down" Brian explained as he scooped up the little boy and lead the way.

It was interesting to see the differences between Gringotts. One Gringotts has a deadly boat ride through levels and vaults, whereas, the other has a magical elevator that has a deadly free fall speed as it goes through the lower levels. Julian freaked out a little, but he was fine. The other differences Severus noticed was that this Gringotts gave out credit cards instead of keys in order to blend in with muggles. Plus the goblins were different in colors. In Australia goblins ranged from dark red to brown to black and had horns unlike the UK Gringotts goblins … and they seemed less abrasive than other goblins.

"the White party I presume" said the brown goblin wearing a suit that came over to them as they recovered from the elevator ride. Brian simply nodded as he comforted Julian who shaking a little "very good, I am Daggerfang, the goblin now managing the Potter accounts and assisting Bloodbarrel with the binding removal. Please follow me" the three adults and child followed the goblin to the room where they will remove the bindings. Waiting there in the stone room was a red goblin that Brian knew because this goblin handled the White vaults "now Julian you see this circle carved in the floor? We're going to have you sit in the middle and we'll put a numbing spell on you. Tell us if feel anything"

The potion master noticed the numbing spell and recalled the research he did. This spell was built off the nerve attacking power of the torture curse and it was effective. Severus sat in the chairs provided and watched as the goblins started the ritual. He didn't show it, but he was just as nervous as Brian and Aster. Though Julian didn't feel anything he was twitching as if he was.

"my eyes itch" Julian said not realizing his eyes were bleeding.

Bloodbarrel frowned at the sight of the blood "10 seconds left little human" he noticed the tall potion master start pulling out potions ready to help the healer take care of the boy, which was good. Julian would be sore for a while if he didn't have such caring guardians. Actually he was surprised Brian managed to keep himself from jumping into the circle to get his son … although the pale look on the headmaster's face meant he wouldn't stop himself for long.

The very second the ritual stopped the little boy was swarmed by the adults. Brian got there first and picked up the little boy as Severus and Aster got ready to check him over. Julian was limp, but was alert. Beyond some minor muscle strain he was fine. Even his eyes were fine. Aster's healing spells showed that the bleeding was just strain from the magic flooding his system. A blood restoring potion, a pain reliever and some healing spells and Julian would be fine even after the numbing spell wears off.

After that the goblins pulled out a plank of solid wood with runes carved in it and placed it in the center of the circle where Julian was just a moment ago. It was finally time for the soul scan and the results were as expected …

Julian had a horcux …

The solution was faster that the scan. Daggerfang pulled a necklace out of his pocket. It was a simple gold chain with a small marble sixed glass orb hanging from it. If you looked closely to the part holding the orb to the chain you could see runes etched into the metal. The glass orb was tapped against the child's forehead right where the horcrux was and the runes glowed. Julian felt nothing, but when the goblin pulled back he could almost see the little fragment swimming around in the orb.

The little boy fell asleep for a second time during a Gringotts visit, but left with a necklace carrying a piece of a soul. Sadly for Brian, however, Silvia and Sophia heard about the bindings removal and aren't happy that they were left out … even if they were in America for a conference and Brian didn't want to bother them. They were out for revenge …

That means Brian had better be careful and Severus too if they find him. Although the UK potions master has been wanting to meet the Australian potion masters who made the potions for Julian so … lets hope it ends well …


	7. Bats & Cats

**(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Yaoi M/M, Harem – top Harry x bottoms Draco / Tom (TMR) / Cedric**

 **Last Time:**

That means Brian had better be careful and Severus too if they find him. Although the UK potions master has been wanting to meet the Australian potion masters who made the potions for Julian so … lets hope it ends well …

XXXXXXXXXX

Green eyes watched the little soul fragment flitter around the glass orb as if it was trying to get close to Julian's little fingers that were touching the glass "I think it likes me"

"I'm not surprised" Severus said as glanced up from the bubbling cauldron. He smiled in amusement as the little boy watched something move in the orb that hung from the necklace around the child's neck. This has become a favorite part of his routine.

On the days Brian can't get out of some meeting or duty Severus stops by and he and Julian spend time together. Now that Hogwarts is on break he can stay a lot longer, which was far better than staying at his house at Spinner's End. Also he was learning so much here and to his surprise he wouldn't be considered potion master outside the UK so he started studying again to qualify as a potion master here too. Julian would study his own things and practice his numbers and reading as Severus got ready, but Severus noticed that the little boy seemed fascinated in watching the brewing process. He wondered if Julian would be a potion master when he grows up.

"can we look for the other pieces?" Julian asked sweetly as he hopped off the curved tan couch that was in the open potion lab section across from his Daddy's office. Mickey wagged his tail and followed suit ready to tag along where ever Julian wanted to go.

Severus frowned, he knew this would come up, but he didn't like the thought of Julian going to the UK and potentially getting caught by Dumbledore … even if the chances Julian being recognized as Harry Potter were nearly nonexistent "your Dad, Aster and I have discussed that. The issue is that we know very little about who the person was before they went down the path that lead them to becoming a dark wizard, but I intend to do some digging on that. It's also unclear as to where or how many soul fragments there are. All we know is that the goblins said the runes on your necklace glow when the pieces are all found. I will try to discover what I can, but you have more recovery to do and you start school in a few months. So far it looks like you will have to wait, but there's no rush … Julian? You ok?" Severus asked as the little 4 year old boy suddenly looked nervous and sad about something.

Julian fidgeted slightly before looking up at his godfather "there … are lots of kids at schools, right?"

"indeed" Severus sighed as he realized the problem. Dudley was the only other child Julian knew and from what he observed when he stops by to secretly spy on the Dursleys it wasn't a good relationship. Dudley was spoiled, violent and dumb, which meant little Julian endured suffering at the hands of another child back then "it's ok to be scared on your first day, but keep in mind that other kids aren't like Dudley and they will be scared too. Your Dad, Stephen and Aster will be there so if anyone hurts you all you have to do is say something. I'll be stopping by to check on you every now and then too so don't worry. Take it as a chance to make friends"

"ok …" Julian said still a bit unsure.

The dark haired wizard sighed, but smiled "you'll see it isn't that bad. Brian wants to show you around before the summer and he has some plans to take you to some zoos and reserves so you can meet other kids there. Just be yourself, ok?" Julian smiled shyly and nodded "good, now let me make you some lunch. I saw a recipe for Mac & Cheese in your Dad's cookbook, how does that sound?"

Those green eyes lit up "sounds tasty!"

Severus chuckled as he saw the small boy run ahead "don't run Julian" he said noting that the boy and his plush toy slowed down. It didn't matter how many times Brian described the safety wards and charms around the house he still didn't think someone should run across the rope bridges. As he made sure the potion would be fine unattended and calmly followed the excited blonde into the main tree house section he froze as he saw two women waiting there. Before he could interrogate them though …

"Aunty Silvia, Aunty Sophia!" Julian smiled and was scooped up by the twins who held him between them.

"Silvia and Sophia the potion masters. I'm Severus Snape, I was just about to make lunch so would you ladies care for anything?" he asked politely. Brian had warned on a few things to not to piss the twins off further …

Really the twins weren't mean, but in order to avoid being pranked you need to know some things …

One, don't go to other potion masters for potion – the twins know they can produce high quality potions and many of them. They don't trust the abilities of other potions masters unless they knew how skilled they were … while Severus understands the territorial instinct he did unintentionally stepped on their toes by creating potions for Julian through his involvement with Gringotts.

Two, do not refer to them as potion mistresses – this is universally offensive outside the UK, but the twins take it hard. In their opinion the word should be 'master' no matter what the gender is of the person receiving it because the degree is called a master. The word 'mistress' should be saved for the woman sleeping with a married man …

Three, don't discuss their eyes …

The last rule confused Severus when it was first mentioned, but Brian offered no explanation beyond 'you and the twins may have a bumpy start, but you might you have a lot in common', which the headmaster said with a smile that implied that he sensed something about this situation. Not that Brian was hiding anything. A semi-seer has strong instincts not visions, but the fact that Brian felt happy about something was interesting all on its own. However as Severus looked at the exotic women wearing button down shirts and jeans he wondered why the beautiful orange eyes were a sore spot …

The woman with the yellow streak in her short black hair kissed the top of Julian's head as she pulled him into her arms before gifting the wizard a playful smile "I'm Silvia and I wouldn't mind some tea" Silvia said.

"yes, me too. I'm Sophia by the way. We shouldn't stay too long though since we have to write up exams for our older students. You're a teacher as well, right Severus?" she asked politely as she gently ran her fingers through the little boy's hair.

"indeed … though most of my students don't have the benefit of being exposed to safe methods at a young age like at Legerdemain so they're actually mostly causing trouble not learning" Severus stated in annoyance as he started cooking and heating some water for some tea "may I ask how it is you handle so many children?" he asked curious as to how he could make things easier when it comes to his students.

The women smiled as they saw Julian's eyes light up with curiosity and set the little boy down on the floor "we'll show you" they said in perfect sync as they stood up and turned their backs to Severus and Julian. Severus's eyes widened ever so slightly as the women unbuttoned their shirts and let the fabric fall to expose their upper back and upper arms, but kept the front closed to keep some modesty. What caught the Julian's attention was the tattoos of the cats, hawks and eyes that seemed to be winking at them. Severus caught that and his eyes seemed to roam the deep chocolaty skin "do you like what you see?" they asked as the tattoos lifted off the skin, became bigger and came alive …

"wow!" Julian exclaimed as he watched the hawks flying around the room and cartoon cats jump across the furniture making Mickey jump after them. The two single eyes that were on the back of the women's necks just floated around like a couple bubbles.

"indeed … enchanted tattoos" Severus commented a bit distractedly as he seemed to be more focused on the women. The bubbling of the kettle drew his attention back to the stove. Four cups of tea were poured as a charmed ladle stirred the pot of cheesy gooey lunch…

The twins smiled as Severus placed the tray of tea on the dining table with small containers of cream, sugar, and honey "thank you Severus" the twins both purred as they turned to add sweetening to their cups … and since they didn't button up their shirts yet they flashed a generous amount of cleavage at Severus who was blocking Julian's view now. With the great reserve of a British spy the older wizard didn't react. Even when the witches took their time ordering their tattoos to come back and slowly buttoned their shirts. He simply focused on putting out Julian's potions …

"lunch should be almost done Julian so potions first" Severus chuckled as the boy pouted when he climbed into a chair, but did as told and drank the potions "good boy, drink some tea to get the taste out" he said as he went to check on the meal. The twins watched the wizard with interest as he served the meal and sat down to eat too.

Sophia took a spoonful of the food and moaned not noticing the nearly unseen twitch in Severus's eye "this is quite good"

"how old are you Severus?" Silvia asked after swallowing her mouthful of food.

"25" Severus answered between bites showing excellent manners.

"really, you're actually the same age as us. When did you become a potion master?" Sophia asked.

Severus snorted "that's a tricky question to answer. In the UK I became a master at 17, but the standards are vastly different outside the UK so I would not meet the requirement. I've gone back to studying in order to get my masters here" he said earning a great deal of respect from the witches who have met too many arrogant fools who wouldn't go back to studying because of foolish pride "I'm starting my required thesis so hopefully I can complete my master by next year"

"you're gonna do great Uncle Sev!" Julian piped up making the adults chuckle.

"with your support I have no doubt" Severus said as he ruffled the boy's blonde hair affectionately.

"if we had this little sweet heart we'd be able to do anything too" the wins said in perfect sync as Silvia, who was sitting closer to the boy, reached over to tickle him. Julian giggled showing more life than he ever has … it was good to see him happy. They continued their meal in a peaceful silence.

As Severus cleared the dishes with the twins help he saw Julian yawn "are you feeling tired Julian?"

"yes Uncle" Julian mumbled through another yawn.

Severus chuckled as he dried his hands with a towel and went over to pick up the sleepy little boy "lets get you to bed then" he said while carrying Julian away with the plush wolf running after them.

"sexy accent" Silvia commented as she sat down at the table again to sip her tea.

"he's good with Julian" Sophia said when she joined her sister.

Silvia smiled mischievously and licked her lips "nice butt and looks potentially hung"

A light blush appeared on Sophia's cheeks "he is diligent in potions too" both women fell silent as Severus was heard coming back down the stairs and returned to the table "is Julian usually tired around this time? I never saw him so tired when we were here"

The wizard took a sip of his tea and shook his head "no, he's been exhausted since the bindings on his magic were removed. Aster just says to let him take naps when he gets tired"

"I see. That was only a week ago so it makes sense that he'd still be feeling the effects … you understand why we don't take kindly to someone else making potions for Julian right?" Silvia stated bluntly getting a scolding look from her twin for her lack of tact.

With a subtle twitch Severus nodded "yes, I would react the same. One botched batch of potions could be catastrophic especially if it goes unnoticed. All the more reason for you to take offense considering I'm not as knowledgeable as I thought I was, but if it helps Gringotts did approve of my skills as far as adoption potions go and they seem to be the only creatures aware of what the rest of the world is like … and secretly laughing at all of magical UK"

Silvia pouted "how dare you talk so logically and calmly make jokes. It makes it hard to stay mad" Severus's lips twitched in amusement not seeing anything beyond amusement in the twins' eyes.

Sophia paused to refill her tea with hot water "how long have you taught by the way? Are you going to change what you've been teaching to reflect this new knowledge?"

Severus paused to think about how to answer that and he sighed as he realized he might have to tell them more than he originally thought "I started teaching about three years ago and I would like to change a few things, but that might give away too much … since you're part of Julian's life and he wants to delve deeper in this horcrux issue at some point" he rolled up his sleeve and showed them the Death Mark, which made him feel regret every time he looked at it.

"you were a Death Eater" Sophia deduced quickly.

"indeed" Severus said without betraying any of the fear he felt. The fact the twins seemed completely non judgmental about the disgusting mark helped a great deal. In fact they were just waiting for him to explain "I made a stupid decision out of anger when I was young and joined the Dark Lord … I eventually became a spy in order to try to protect a dear friend who I considered a sister … Julian's mother to be exact. After her death and the supposed death of the Dark Lord I was sent to Azkaban"

Both women looked baffled "but didn't you just say-" Silvia started to say.

"-that you were a spy in the end?" Sophia finished.

"yes, but that didn't seem to matter. Technically they never verified I was a Death Eater. I was locked up for a month due to mistakes. Afterwards Dumbledore came to get me and said I had to be ready to spy again someday … he all but threatened to send me back to prison every time I tried anything, but it was always in that passive aggressive way where you're the one feeling guilty for not being his slave" Severus said unable to stop the scowl from coming to his face.

Orange eyes narrowed dangerously "he knew about the horcrux …-"

"and did nothing" Sophia said completing her sister's sentence.

A sneer made its way to the wizard's lips "so it seems. He sent Julian into hell and he used this mark to basically blackmail me into staying close as a teacher"

"can we see your mark?" Severus raised an eyebrow at Silvia's request, but moved his arm closer to the dark tanned women. The watched as the curved orange eyes scanned his mark as if looking for something specific. Slender fingers very gently traced the mark and after what seemed like hours they smiled "you know Severus the fool blackmailing you can lose all his leverage with one potion"

Severus looked intrigued, but suspicious at the same time "what is the catch?"

"well Severus … you need to have a masters for at least three years in order to get access to two necessary regulated ingredients, but considering that will mean four years of students learning outdated facts, four years of you potentially ending up back in prison, which hurt Julian terribly, we have a proposal. We will brew you the potion you need" Silvia said sweetly.

The wizard frowned "in exchange for what?" he asked. It was true that as long as the mark was still there he was in danger. If it was removed he would still continue pretending, but at least he would be safe in case Dumbledore double crossed him. Unfortunately freedom never comes without a price …

Both women smiled mischievously and in perfect sync got out of their chairs. They moved to stand on either side of the wizard and leaned down to meet his eyes "we want a date, nothing fancy, just spend some time with us. We can get to know each other" they said perfectly ... he was so stunned that he simply nodded in agreement since he couldn't trust what his mouth would say. The witches smiled softly and leaned towards him to kiss him on the cheeks "bye Severus, we have a potion to brew" and with that said both women left for the floo in the living room section. Severus couldn't believe what just happened …

XXXXXXXXXX

Albus flounced into Severus's living quarters "it's time for all the students to return from break, are you ready my boy? How was your break?" he asked far too cheerfully. He knew Severus had no life beyond Hogwarts and Gringotts, but he liked to ask just to rub it in while sounding kind. The potion master looked a bit tan, but the black robes and scowl were still in place so nothing struck him as odd.

"save for them it was the usual Albus" Severus smirked and pointed up at the ceiling where five bats hung watching their surroundings "those brats nicknamed me the 'dungeon bat' and I decided to embrace it by transfiguring some things into bats to stare at them during class"

"now Severus don't be mean" Albus chastised lightly.

Severus snorted "it'll serve them right … fine … I'll try to be a little less strict as far as teaching goes, but I refuse to be so lenient that they start blowing themselves up" the potion professor huffed irritably.

"that's all I ask. After all I don't want something bad to happen and certain … marks discovered" Albus said faking his concern as he said a farewell and left.

"it's hard to believe I ever trusted that bastard" Severus muttered as he adjusted his robes. The black robes were not something he wore outside of Hogwarts. Much to his surprise he has become used to wearing the jeans or lighter clothing that he wears in Australia. He unbuttoned his sleeves revealing that both arms were unblemished … no marks at all. The bats flew down and shrank as they flattened themselves to the skin on the right forearm making five bat tattoos circling the arm. Severus buttoned that sleeve and looked at the left forearm with a smile "I have a deal to complete this weekend"

After buttoning up his sleeve he moved his papers aside revealing a textbook on modern potions and did some studying of his own …


	8. Searching

**(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Yaoi M/M, Harem – top Harry x bottoms Draco / Tom (TMR) / Cedric**

 **Last Time:**

After buttoning up his sleeve he moved his papers aside revealing a textbook on modern potions and did some studying of his own …

XXXXXXXXXX

"you'll have your masters sooner than you think" Sophia said with a smile as she, Silvia and Severus settled near a bubbling cauldron that basked in the moonlight that poured through the skylights of the twins home. This was a routine for the three potion lovers. They each preferred just sitting back and chatting over a meal or a cauldron. As a first date they tried going to a restaurant, but it was too stuffy so they agreed to just relax at a casual dinner. Severus decided to cook since it was his foolish idea to try a restaurant.

It was definitely more them and they learned a good deal about each other. Sadly they shared rather painful pasts. The abuse Severus made to endure as a child at the hands of his father was similar to the twins' bloody childhood. Unlike Severus Silvia and Sophia didn't have a muggle father.

Instead they had two magical parents who were murdered by relatives that were terribly old fashioned and a bit insane. The twins were cut out of their mother and taken away all because their parents tried to leave the families lifestyle and start fresh. When the twins finally opened their eyes their fate was sealed. The pretty orange eyes were seen as a curse and the relatives treated them as such. It wasn't until they were ten they were saved and it was thanks to the very relatives who tormented them. Their uncle became furious at someone for not believing his insane disillusions and tried to kill the bystander in public. The uncle was taken to Australia's magical prison where he broke down ranting those who opposed his family's greatness like the 'cursed trash in the cellar' … that comment prompted an investigation that ended with the girls being found and saved …

"perhaps … it would be nice to complete that … I received a floo call from Narcissa just bfore I came here. Apparently Draco is sick again" Severus may have issue's with Lucius, but he wasn't going to ignore a child in need.

Silvia raised an eyebrow "he was sick just last month, right?"

"correct … I've done some research and I think this isn't just a reoccurring cold. Draco has had this sickness monthly for six months and it progresses each time" Severus explained.

"you think it's the Cyclic disease" Sophia deduced.

Severus sighed "unfortunately yes, which means it will get worse with each moon cycle for about a year until he dies. The UK doesn't have a cure for it because it's a potion that needs runes "

"that's not good … good thing we just brewed some things for St. Pearl and have extra on stock" Silvia exclaimed as she hopped up and raced over to the shelves filled with potion vials and pulled out one of the vials with a green potion and another with a clear potion "use the clear one to make sure this is a Cyclic disease. Wouldn't want to give him the wrong cure"

"indeed … especially since the Cyclic cure is fatal to anyone who doesn't need it" Severus remarked with an amused smirk at the subtle quiz. Normally he'd take offense, but the twins were very clever at hiding it and never sounded condescending … no wonder they make great teachers. Severus reached for the potions only for the potions to be moved out of reach … these women would make great Slytherins as well "in exchange for what?"

Sophia blushed lightly as she got a mischievous glance from her sister "well …" she leaned over and whispered something in his ear.

Severus's eyes widened ever so slightly, but then smiled softly "you could've just asked for that" he said and leaned over to kiss Sophia and soon after kissed Silvia …

XXXXXXXXXX

"Narcissa how is Draco?" Severus asked after he flooed into the Malfoy Manor.

The concerned mother frowned "he's a little worse than when I floo called you last night"

"I see … don't worry, we'll get this under control" Severus said in his usual calm tone.

Narcissa smiled a hopeful smile and lead Severus up the stairs, but the potion master noticed Lucius holding a book as they walked passed the office. Something about that made Narcissa twitch in barely concealed rage "Draco is right in his room … excuse me"

Severus nodded as he walked towards the room, but paused when Narcissa slipped into the office (that was interesting … maybe) he let a bat tattoo sneak out of his buttoned sleeve a flutter stealthily into the office before slipping into Draco's room and sat next to the bed with a flushed feverish child shifted to look up at him "hello Draco, how are you?" he asked. In the back of hs mind he could feel his bat trying to transmit what it's witnessing to him, but he raised his mental shields in order to focus on the boy in front of him.

"not good" Draco whispered weakly before seemingly drifting off to sleep.

"not yet Draco" Severus said as he gently shook the little boy awake and placed the vial of the clear potion at the boy's lips "we're going to try something different this time. Drink this and spit it back out for me" the young boy did as told with Severus's help and the potion that was spat back into the vial was now white … it was the Cyclic disease "ok … good boy, I have something that may be a better option for you. Drink this" he helped Draco sit up and drink the green potion for just that disease before tucking the boy into bed.

"I don't recall you being good with kids before. You seemed to prefer seeing them suffer" Lucius sneered as he entered the room with his wife who shoot her husband a harsh glare.

The potion master scoffed "as I recall you also enjoyed making the occasional Hufflepuff cry … Draco was given a potion different from the usual fever reducing potion. It should help a great deal. I will return tomorrow to check on him, but I expect a vast improvement by then. I can see myself out" he said as he stood to leave.

"thank you Severus" Narcissa said gratefully as she took the seat next to the bed and fussed over her son. Lucius didn't even look up as Severus walked pout into the hall. No one saw him pick up his sneaky bat either …

The bat flattened against his skin and he finally let the memories enter his mind …

 **Memory**

"what in Merlin's name are you doing Lucius? Get that thing out of here and focus on your sick child" Narcissa snapped as the bat moved into the shadows to avoid being seen.

Lucius sighed in irritation and put the book on his desk "the Dark Lord gave us this to look after-"

"all the more reason to get rid of it or are you hoping the bastard returns?" she asked haughtily.

"Merlin no!" the Malfoy Lord yelled "I refuse to let that monster near my family if I can help it, but what if he does return and this was gone? You know what could happen to us, to Draco. Until I'm sure the Dark Lord will not return it stays" he said as he put the book back on the shelf.

Narcissa scowled "fine … I suppose we can't take any chances … if you feel this way why are you so distant with Severus? I don't believe he's an actual Death Eater if he takes such good care of Draco"

"if he was a spy then he played part very well, but I despise Dumbledore just as much or even more so than the Dark Lord and I won't attempt to reconnect with Severus if he's working for that manipulative old fool … it hurt to deny him the right to be Draco's godfather, but it can't happen" Lucius said sternly.

The dark haired witch sighed in exhaustion "it's too late to reverse the godfather title now unless your cousin vanishes and if you're worried about appearances that can't happen … lets just go and check on Draco"

 **Memory Over**

Severus stopped in front of the floo in a slightly stunned daze. Lucius was less loyal than he thought … was he putting on a show before or did he realize how he truly felt when he had a family to protect? In the long run it didn't matter. Now he knew where his friend stood and as far as the godfather subject goes he already was one to Julian so he was fine. Besides he doubted he could afford the lifestyle Draco was used to. It was tempting to tell Lucius and Narcissa everything, but he was not sure how they'd react to the horcruxes … if they even believed him they might try to destroy them it would be bad for the person's soul … he decided to wait. In the long run it will be funny to see their faces when Harry Potter never arrives at Hogwarts …

(a book given to them by the Dark Lord) Severus mused. Could it be a horcrux? He pondered the notion as he flooed to Hogwarts. If that was the case then he had to stop at Brian's to get Julian's orb tomorrow before visiting again …

XXXXXXXXXX

Brian smiled as Julian looked excitedly at the dragons in the valley of the reservation. As promised he took his son to several fun places including "that learner one with black scales is a Horntail. They're tough and have a nasty temper"

"wicked" Julian exclaimed excitedly as he held onto his Daddy who was holding him up so he see over the rail and watch the large ferocious creatures tend to their nests a safe distance away "Daddy what are those?"

The headmaster looked up to see where Julian was looking at and was surprised to see a 30 foot long creature with a serpent like body with no legs, a bird like head with a sharp beak, strong bird like wings and covered in dark blue feather like scales "an Occamy and an unusually large one … that's odd. These guys are supposed to be on the other side of the reservation"

Julian pouted as he tried to recall what his Daddy taught him about animals "the dragon's tiny cousin, right? They can spit fire just like a dragon, but they swim and shrink too"

"very good Julian! I think ice cream is in order" Brian said with a smile as his son beamed happily. They went to the food stand nearby and Julian was set down so he could see the menu of ice cream flavors set low for kids "what would you like?" he asked. It's rare that he eats treats like this. Brian actually spends most of the time cooking his own meals and hiding lots of vegetables to surprise people … he will never tell Harry there's cauliflower in the Mac & Cheese recipe … this was a fun change that will be a rare treat. Can't go giving children bad habits …

"ummmmm … honeycomb sounds nice" Julian smiled and pointed to the option.

Brian grinned "excellent choice … I'll get a chocolate. Do you want a waffle cone, waffle bowl or a plastic bowl?"

"waffle bowl please!" Julian exclaimed politely making his Daddy chuckle. Once Brian had their treats they sat down at a picnic table nearby to eat. Julian paused in mid scoop and looked up again "Daddy … the Occamy is flying closer" he said having a little trouble saying 'Occamy' correctly since he was still young.

"so it is" Brian commented as he turned on the bench and leaned back against the picnic table to get a good view of the Occamy flying over head as he licked his ice cream from the cone "Julian … what do you say we try moving to another table?"

Julian popped some of his ice cream in his mouth and tilted his head curiously "that's ok Daddy … is it because the Occamy is getting close?"

"not exactly. The place is warded so we're safe here, but I want to see something … lets move over to that table" Brian said as he picked up Julian's ice cream bowl.

The pair settled at a picnic table that was right at the edge of the wards separating humans from fire breathing dragons. It was also right next to some trees that were on the other side of the wards. As the two wizards ate the flying serpent flew down lower. It shrank and landed in the landed in the tree closest to them. Julian watched in fascination as the Occamy slither down the tree trunk and it seemed to be looking for something though it couldn't see through the barrier made by the wards. It kept glancing around the area where the little boy was, but couldn't lock on to what it was. The little boy ate the ice cream as he watched the now smaller creature try to get closer to the barrier.

"Daddy what is it looking for?" Julian asked as he finished his ice cream and started nibbling at the waffle bowl.

Brian chuckled as he finished his ice cream cone "I think I know … Julian this is the one and only time I want you to do this, ok?" Julian nodded well aware of the seriousness in his Daddy's tone "put your hand through the wards and try to pet the Occamy" he said as tossed their trash away in a nearby bin.

The little boy hoped off the bench and walked up to the rail that was set to show where the wards end. As far as protection goes the wards are strong, but for emergencies they aren't designed to keep people in just keep them from falling out of the wards and to signal for help if someone breaches the wards. In fact, Brian expected a team of trainers to appear to help the second that tiny hand reached passed the rail.

Julian felt his hand pass through an invisible wall of something that felt like water and reached out to the creature. The Occamy fluttered up to the tiny hand and shrank down even more to fit in the hand. A giggle escaped the little boy as the occamy slithered in and out between each finger as if exploring and succeeding in ticking Julian at the same time.

As expected a group of witches and wizards appeared and Brian went over to them "it's alright. My son seems to have found himself a familiar"

The witch, who seemed be the leader of the group, gasped "I never heard of an occamy bonding with anyone … they tend to be even more stubborn than dragons. Familiars are allowed inside the wards, but you would have to leave and come in through the entrance" she said.

"very well, it's actually getting late for us anyway. Does this occamy have a name or family?" Brian asked as he son was still holding the occamy.

"actually occamies don't use names to identify themselves … it makes it tricky for me to know who's talking to who even with parseltongue, but this guy is different from the others that live around here. He is the biggest we've seen by far, but has been no trouble. I think he came here a month ago … yeah, just appeared for no reason as if he was waiting for someone. This would explain a lot" one member of the group said with an amused smile.

Brian chuckled, it just so happens the magical biddings were removed just over a month ago. When all that magic was freed the occamy must've finally been able to locate Julian "yes … lets go Julian. We'll meet your new friend outside"

Julian pouted, but slowly pulled his hand back into the wards forcing the occamy to let go. He immediately felt a little guilty when the occamy cried out sadly and flew in circles before growing to it's full size and taking to the sky. For some reason Julian felt the occamy was worried about him "Daddy we need to hurry … he's worried"

"we'll apparate ahead of you to get people out of range should your familiar think you're in trouble" the leader of the trainers said before they silently apparated away. it's no surprise really. Occamies can be very violent when their eggs are threatened so it stands to reason that the one bonded to one would be protected with just as much ferocity …

"lets go then" Brian grinned as he easily scooped up his son and took off for the entrance. He didn't want to apparate because that might just piss off the occamy even more. After all, wouldn't anyone be pissed if they suddenly felt their bonded vanish even if they did reappear only half a mile away?

In no time at all the headmaster made it to the reservation gate where everyone was moving out of the way. The occamy, who never once stopped following tem from its path through the sky, landed gracefully in the wide open space in front of the park. A burst of fire made everyone to stay away as it looked for its bonded. Its solid dark blue eyes narrowed in on the little boy in Brian's arm and it hissed dangerously at Brian.

' _let my human go_ ' it threateningly as it slithered closer.

' _I'm fine. This is my Daddy_ ' Julian hissed in parseltongue as they went into the same clearing where Brian set Julian down to see the occamy.

' _Daddy? Yes … I can smell a bond of blood. Very well, he can live_ ' the winged serpent hissed happily as it coiled around Julian and spent a few moments nuzzling the boy as if he was a precious egg ' _my little human … I've been wanting to meet you for a long time_ ' the occamy purred and shrank down to wrap itself snuggly around Julian's neck earning a giggle from the little boy as its forked tongue tickled the little ear.

Brian chuckled at the display as some people cooed … finding a familiar is always an important moment for a wizard or witch "ready to go home you two?"

"yes Daddy" Julian said and was yet again lifted up into his Daddy's strong arms.

' _yes, I must approve of my human's shelter_ ' the smaller occamy chirped.

' _what should I call you? Do you have a name?_ ' Julian hissed as he petted the soft feather like scales.

' _ah yes, humans like to give each other titles. I don't have one, but I'm yours now so you can give me one_ ' the occamy exclaimed happily.

' _ok_ ' Julian paused to think as his Daddy headed to the floo in town to take them home. The scales under his fingertips got him thinking. Scales are harder than stone and Aster wears jewelry that had pretty gemstones in it so that's a place to consider "Daddy, are there any blue stones?"

Brian hummed in thought "there's Aquamarine, Sapphire, Quartz … oh, and Tanzanite … and Spinel … that's all the ones I know" he said as he stopped in front of a public floo.

"Tanzanite?" Julian mulled over the sound of the name ' _how about that?_ ' Julian asked accidently slipping into parseltongue. Aster has helped him control that, but he slips up still … no surprise really, he is only four years old …

' _I like it!_ ' the very dark blue occamy hissed. When the flames of the floo transported them back to the tree house home Tanzanite flew up into the air and took a few laps around the place without changing his size before settling back onto Julian's shoulders ' _I approve_ '

Julian smiled "he approves"

The headmaster laughed "excellent … you know, we should set up a spot for him in your room and perhaps a place to perch"

Those green eyes sparkled in excitement "ok Daddy!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Severus resisted the urge to roll is eyes as Dumbledore went through the announcements for the day during the staff meeting. Finally the meeting ended and Severus managed to get to the floo in his living quarters to go to Gringotts and then appeared in Brian's living room where both Julian and Brian were relaxing "hey Brian, Julian, I think I found- … why do you have an occamy on your head?" he asked when he spotted the winged serpent on the little boy's head.

"he's Tanzanite, Julian's familiar" Brian chuckled as the currently tiny occamy flew around Julian's head.

"really? An eventful trip to the zoo I take it. Congratulations Julian!" Severus gently ruffled the boy's hair earning a giggle from the boy and a hiss from the occamy "and hello to you too Tanzanite" Severus smirked as the creature grew a little and wrapped itself around Julian's neck "Julian I need to use your soul orb for a moment. I think I found a piece of the soul, but I need it to be sure"

Julian pouted, but Tanzanite flew up into the air so he could give Severus the chain holding the glass orb "take care of him Uncle Sev"

"I will, I promise" Severus said firmly and hugged Julian before flooing away with the orb hidden in his pocket. In no time at all he appeared in the Malfoy Manor.

Narcissa was there again to meet him "Draco is so much better, thank you!"

"you are welcome" Severus said and followed Narcissa up to the boy's room. He looked over Draco who was happily playing with his toys. When the Lady Malfoy stepped out to check on an owl carrying a letter that flew passed the window and presumably up to the owl roost Severus stepped into the office quickly. He pulled out the orb and pressed it against the old brown book he saw before. The runes hummed for a second meaning it did indeed pull out a soul piece. After hiding the orb in his pocket he examined the book. There was nothing actually written in the book, but there was a faded inscription of someone's initials …

T.M.R … this might be the clue he needed …


	9. Acceptance

**(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Yaoi M/M, Harem – top Harry x bottoms Draco / Tom (TMR) / Cedric**

 **Last Time:**

T.M.R … this might be the clue he needed …

XXXXXXXXXX

Severus opened the heavy wooden door to the records room in Hogwarts "now I don't know for sure, but considering the Dark Lord hates Dumbledore so much, speaks parseltongue, is supposedly the heir to Slytherin and people claim Death Eaters are Slytherin it stands to reason that he attended Hogwarts as a student. Why else would Dumbledore and Hogwarts be the center of much of the war?"

File after file Severus sifted through the years of students. There were two traits he was looking for … the initials TMR and a Slytherin student that was around something like fifty years ago. At firszt it seemed like a pointless quest, but then he spotted a name …

Tom Marvolo Riddle!

It fit perfectly! According to the records and written comments from passed teachers he was a brilliant Slytherin student who seemed normal until one of the Ravenclaw students, Myrtle Warren, passed away.

"the death of Myrtle must be when his soul shattered for the first time because the teachers noticed him turning to the dark arts after that. Perhaps he blamed himself" Severus commented and began skimming the rest of the information, but his eyes narrowed as he found some information was missing and almost too much in one area that had nothing to do with the child "how very odd … I can't find anything on his guardians or where he was staying, but there's a lot on the Gaunt family … no one was staying with them so why is there so much here? Even if he was related to them there'd only be enough to show he was living with them, which he wasn't"

The entire situation puzzled Severus so he went to get Julian's soul orb and check the Gaunt Shack …

XXXXXXXXXX

"you found more! Thank you Uncle Sev!" Julian beamed as he carefully took the orb filled with four shimmering soul fragments swimming inside and put the necklace on. Severus chuckled as the little boy smiled happily with the occamy perched on his head.

Brian sat down on the couch and grinned as Julian played with Tanzanite "it didn't take you long to collect them" he commented as Severus sat down too.

"once I managed to find the name Tom Marvolo Riddle in the Hogwarts records it was simple to track them down though … it's really odd behavior. I think Tom understood that something was wrong and began taking measures to protect the diary, but the two horcruxes I found today weren't protected at all. Both the Slytherin locket and the Gaunt ring were just laying on the floor of the Gaunt Shack" Severus said as he shook some dust off his sleeve that got on him when he searched the dilapidated shack "Tom's mind must've been suffering from severe memory problems"

"sounds like it and this proves that he probably didn't intend to break his soul" Brian mused out loud.

Severus nodded "indeed … I gave Griphook the Gaunt ring and the locket since they were goblin made and heirlooms. They'll take care of it and I was informed that there was a horcrux protocol in all Gringotts banks so if I suspect that a specific item was used the goblins could enter the vault with the orb and legally take the horcrux for me. A piece of someone's soul doesn't belong to anyone even if you own the item the horcrux is stuck to. If the locket was used I suspect the other founder items were used save for the sword of Gryffindor. Griphook is setting up an investigation to see if anything can be found … and now that Hogwarts is out for the summer I have time to handle arrangements so Gringotts is transferring my bank accounts over to Australia"

Those pretty green eyes lit up "are you staying closer Uncle Sev?"

"yes I am and I was curious if you'd like to meet the little boy I told you about" Severus suggested as he pulled Julian into his lap making a tiny Tanzanite flutter up into the air clearly irritated with being unsettled, but quickly .

"the little boy who was sick a lot? … Draco? I'd like to meet him" Julian said softly. The two older wizards have tried to get Julian comfortable around kids and they have had some success, but not a lot and considering it's only a couple more months until he turns five he will need to get comfortable soon if he is going to handle school. Severus has taken time to talk about Draco including each time the young Malfoy was sick and when he gave him the cure for the Cyclic disease. Meeting Draco might help Julian open up especially since Julian seemed worried for him each time he fell ill.

Severus chuckled "I'm glad. Draco is very nice, but he is a bit weak from all those months of being sick so be gentle" he said knowing Julian was already a gentle child who knew what it was like to feel weak, but now the green eyed child was bigger than Draco so it was different.

The headmaster of Legerdemain handed Severus a pamphlet as he took Julian into his arms "this explains the classes and main points of our school as well as the times to visit if they wish to come on their own"

"that's all well and good, but I intend to kidnap them if necessary … I'll show Lucius exactly where my loyalties lie and it is most definitely not with Dumbledore. Now I won't tell them about Tom until we have all the pieces of his soul, but when I'm sure they're trustworthy maybe they can be told about Harry Potter. Of course that will only happen if you want it to Julian, ok?" Severus promised and when his godson nodded with that soft smile he went to the floo. This time he wasn't going to change out of his loose fitting button down shirt and black slacks so the Malfoys will be in for a shock right away.

' _another little human will be coming … he better be nice to my human_ ' Tanzanite hissed as he wrapped himself around Julian's neck making the little boy giggle as the forked tongue tickled his neck …

XXXXXXXXXX

Narcissa smiled when she heard someone floo into the Manor "Severus is that you? I'm in the living room with Draco" she called out.

"and how is little Draco?" Severus asked as he walked into the room.

"oh he is doing very well- …" Narcissa's jaw dropped when she finally turned to look at the potion master in far more flattering clothes "dear Merlin … you look great Severus!" she exclaimed trying to hide a blush that was threatening to appear on her cheeks.

Severus surprised his friend further by smiling kindly "thank you Narcissa. These clothes are better suited for Australia and they seem to suit me better than solid black" he said as he casually sat on the floor with Draco who looked frail despite being cured five months ago, but smiled none the less.

After six months of being on and off sick he was still recovering. The Cyclic disease is called that because it flares up like a cold or flu once a month. Those episodes last for a week or two before the victim 'gets better', but there is no time to recover between the flare ups since the disease is still sapping the child's strength between the flare ups. Draco was sick for a while so it will take a little bit of time to recover plus the cure itself can make recovering a much slower than normal process.

"A-Australia?" Narcissa gasped in confusion.

"indeed … that's where I've been brewing" Severus commented dismissively secretly feeling great amusement from his friend's surprise.

Lucius came into the room and scoffed "only you would go to another continent to brew. I am surprised you would choose some inferior place outside of the UK" he said though he raised an eyebrow at the new outfit the potion master was wearing.

"I'd hardly call it inferior considering Australia is where I found the cure for exactly what Draco was stricken with. If I stuck to the resources and knowledge in the UK your son would've passed by now no matter what help you could afford" Severus said bluntly. It seemed cold, but it had to be said if they were going to understand "and I don't just go there to brew. My godson, Julian, lives there with his father" Severus said casually and helped Draco build a castle out of blocks while Narcissa and Lucius stood there in a stupefied silence.

A long stretch of time passed and a large block castle with four block towers was built around Draco before the Malfoy parents came back to their senses …

"Draco could've …" Narcissa felt dizzy at the mere thought of losing her baby boy and she couldn't find the strength to complete the sentence.

Severus stood up and moved over to them to speak more quietly "not could've, would've … the disease he had was the Cyclic disease and it is fatal, but that's over now so I have a question for you … how badly do you want to cut all ties from the Death Eater stigma and get your son away from Dumbledore's reach?"

Lucius felt his body sag slightly out of pure relief "you were a spy"

"indeed and I'm no friend of Dumbledore's either … there is a potion outside of the UK that can remove the mark just as it did for me" Severus said as he rolled up his sleeve to reveal that his left arm held no mark and was pleased to see hope in those silver eyes "sadly the standards are different elsewhere so I'm not a potion master outside the UK. While I am studying to get my masters it will take a couple more months at least, but I know a pair of potion masters who can brew it for you just as they did for me" he said. In the back of his mind he knew Silvia and Sophia will ask him for a 'payment', but he was happy to except whatever they ask him if it will be anything like the other requests "as for Dumbledore …" he pulled the pamphlet out of his pocket and gave it to Lucius.

With an almost eager motion Lucius took the pamphlet "Legerdemain Academy of Sorcery? … is this a joke? Kids can't start learning at five"

"Lucius there are over 200 schools in the world. All except the three in the UK follow the principle that children can start learning magic at 5 and enroll kids at 5 or 6 years of age. Hundreds of extensive studies have proven that it's much healthier to start early and the statistics from the other schools over the last 50 years have backed that up. There's a 70% drop in magic related injuries including magic coil shut downs and I'm only talking about starting earlier. Once you factor in the more recent studies with wandless magic training coming before even getting wands and mental training it's remarkable. Narcissa, Lucius, the UK has been cut off by their own arrogance for so long that we are the inferior ones. I understand if this is hard to swallow so come with me when Brian White shows his son, my godson, around school. You know me, do you think I'd give you half baked research?" Severus stated firmly, but quietly so he didn't startle Draco.

"of course not, but the Malfoys and Blacks have been going to Hogwarts for generations plus Australia is so far away" Narcissa argued as she looked at the pamphlet in her husband's hands.

Severus scoffed "I find it hilarious that you, a family who can buy a summer home wherever you desire and can afford a two way portkey, is concerned about distance" he said bluntly making Narcissa blush at the obvious solutions " _plus_ Legerdemain isn't a boarding school. They help make arrangements so kids can return home every night unless there's a reason the child is thought to be in danger. Only then are they allowed to stay" Severus said with a smirk knowing he won this argument. He pulled a book out of his pocket and un-shrank it "take this too. It's a book on different diseases including the Cyclic Disease on page 236. You might find the children who contracted it at some point have a similar issue. An issue that might have you reconsidering traditions. If you want to talk to me send a letter to Gringotts. I'm in the process of moving so contacting me the normal ways won't work … goodbye Draco. I hope you get to meet my godson soon"

"bye bye!" Draco smiled as Severus exited the room to floo home, but then looked at his Daddy's foot and pouted "Daddy your foot is in the moat"

Lucius blinked and notice he was too close to the block castle that surrounded his son, which must've been the pretend moat "I'm sorry Draco" he said with a smile and took a step back as his wife giggled.

Both Narcissa and Lucius sat down and began reading the book to clear up this issue right away. they did trust Severus, but they needed a good reason to reject years of traditions. What could this school teach Draco that would be more important for him to learn sooner?

"oh … I see now" Narcissa frowned as she skimmed the words "the Cyclic disease occurs when a child's magic becomes linked with a cycle in nature like rain storms or seasons or, the most dangerous, the moon cycle. All children are affected because their magic has strong ties to the elements. If not taught how to control and focus then the child's magic can reconnect to the cycle and will be dragged into nature as they grow stronger even after the cure is taken" she summarized when the book was completed.

An exasperated sigh slipped passed Lucius's lips "Hogwarts doesn't teach elemental magic or mind training" he commented as he watched his son "Draco … would you like to go to school with Severus's godson?"

Draco tilted his head cutely as he thought about it "yes!" he answered. Even though he hasn't met Julian he knew he'd at least see Severus more often.

"then it's settled. We'll meet with Severus and go to see this school" Lucius said before sighing and muttering "six generation of Malfoys just rolled in their graves"

XXXXXXXXXX

The soon-to-be new potion master was currently at Spinner's End packing all his things to move them to his new apartment and sending out the grade results for the final exams. It pleased him greatly that his subtle changes in teaching style coupled with the extra sets of eyes overseeing the students has had a huge impact on the students grades. As a bonus he relaxed and became much less stern. It helped knowing he wasn't the only one keeping an eye on an entire class of fools. Of course now Minerva has been sulking because he stole her spot as favorite teacher according to the gossip channels …

'ok … that's everything … now I just need to send these to Dumbledore" Severus commented as he shrank all of his personal things and put them in his pocket. He picked up all the papers he graded and put them in their own envelope. A brown bag with a light weight charm cast on it was filled with the envelopes and given to the dark colored falcon "take these to Dumbledore. When you're done, Artemis, meet me at Gringotts" the bird nodded before taking off into the sky through the open window.

Breaking ties with this life was strangely healing, but he couldn't completely remove himself yet. There were three reasons he had to stay and make sure all goes well …

First he had to come back once a month to check that the Dursleys are continuing on as if Harry was still there and that Ms. Figg was still sending reports claiming all is well to Dumbledore. It's not like the muggles or squib are aware of his routine visits. He just apparates there, reads their minds and it's done …

Second he had to keep teaching. This was necessary in order to keep Dumbledore in the dark about Julian. Of course this will only last until Harry Potter is expected at Hogwarts. Julian will never get a letter or arrive, but that's when people will have to take notice and then Severus will have to leave since he can't stall after that chaos starts. It helps that teaching is more tolerable now …

Third is, of course, the horcruxes. He will do what he can to find the rest of Tom Riddle's broken soul. Besides the main fragment floating around somewhere there are two horcruxes left so he has his work cut out for him …

"this situation can wait for now. I have a masters to complete" Severus said as he let the door to the house on Spinner's End creak shut on its own as he apparated away. He didn't care about the house or what remained inside so it was left as it was. A moment later he reappeared in front of Gringotts, but just as he entered the building he was approached by Griphook.

The goblin smirked "could I take a moment of your time Severus?"

"of course" Severus said and followed the goblin to his office.

"I have a few matters to discuss with you" Griphook commented as he shut the door behind Severus and took a seat at his desk "you are in luck. We found a soul fragment in on of our vaults. Of course I can't reveal which vault or who owns it or what the soul is attached to, but if you return with the soul orb we can retrieve it for you"

Severus sighed in relief "thank you, I will do that right away. What else did you want to discuss?"

Griphook handed Severus a letter "a letter from the Malfoys came for you Lord Prince" the goblin said and the reaction was priceless …


	10. School Time

**(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Yaoi M/M, Harem – top Harry x bottoms Draco / Tom (TMR) / Cedric**

 **Last Time:**

Griphook handed Severus a letter "a letter from the Malfoys came for you Lord Prince" the goblin said and the reaction was priceless …

XXXXXXXXXX

Brian laughed as he sat next to Julian who was looking at the elegant fountain of a tilted cauldron on top of a potentially unstable stack of books. The water was pouring out of the cauldron and down the books, which looked like they were frozen in mid fall "so you're a prince now Severus. The twins will love this"

"very funny" Severus scoffed and looked around the place. The old building was massive. Four stories of solid stone, but it looked more modern than Hogwarts. They were in the courtyard, which was encompassed by the building on three sides. There was a large glass dome on top of the building that was a greenhouse and observatory. In the courtyard was the fountain and as you walk to the building you first go under some arches that has a large wall of floos. If you flooed here you'd be greeted by the beautiful courtyard. This was Legerdemain Academy of Sorcery "I'll go get the Malfoys, don't let Mickey fall in the water Julian" he warned before heading for the floos.

"ok, see you soon uncle!" Julian called out and watched as Severus left in a flash of green flames.

"ready to see your school and meet Draco?" Brian asked as a tiny Tanzanite dove into fountain and swam around chasing the little fish.

Julian nodded shyly "yes Daddy" he said softly, but was clearly a bit nervous for he clutched his toy wolf close to him.

"don't worry Julian, there's nothing to be afraid of. There are still some club activities going on so we'll see a bit of how things work around here as you get a look at where your classes will be" Brian said as he gently ruffled the little boy's hair, which was nearly identical to his own.

' _yes Julian. You're my little human so nothing will hurt you without getting burned by me first_ ' Tanzanite hissed as he sprang out of the water and twisted sending a sprinkle of water at Aster who was coming down the hall towards them.

"hi Aster" Julian said sheepishly as Tanzanite unapologetically perched on his head.

"hello Julian" Aster said sweetly before narrowing her eyes at the Occamy as he dried her face trying to ignore Brian's snickering ' _you're a cheeky little thing_ '

XXXXXXXXXX

Lucius sighed as Severus appeared in the floo of the Malfoy Manor in front of him and his family "about time. Shall we go see this school that's supposedly so great?" he remarked clearly irritated at the thought that there's a school better than the one most of his family went to. Chances are he's only doing this is for Draco since he would never forgive himself if everything turned out to be true and sending his son to Hogwarts did lead to his son's death. Narcissa was more open minded about this potential change and simply adjusted her hold on Draco so she could nudge her husband for being rude again.

"glad to see you're chipper this morning Lucius" Severus said sarcastically as they family of three joined him in the floo. Everything was expected to go well, but the first thing the Malfoys saw upon leaving the floo was Aster speaking parseltongue "get over it" he whispered into the adult Malfoys' ears who went rigid as they were reminded of a terrifying time in their lives when a certain snake speaking Dark Lord was around.

"but Severus she's speaking parseltongue" Lucius snapped under his breath in an outrage.

"thanks for clarifying. I would've never figured it out on my own" Severus retorted wryly, but sighed when his friends glared clearly thinking this was a serious matter "there are over 2000 snake speakers all over the world so getting worked up over a language is not going to help you or Draco"

Narcissa couldn't stop her mouth from dropping in shock "2000! … but I thought it was a rare trait that only Salazar Sytherin and his descendants had"

"they certainly liked to claim as much" Severus muttered with an eye roll.

"Uncle Sev!" the little boy yelled as he waved and was pulled up into the man's arms.

Severus smiled throwing his friends for a loop "this is my godson Julian River White" he said and glanced over his shoulder to see Aster and the ever laidback headmaster coming over with Mickey running around on the floor "this is his father, Brian White, who is the headmaster of this school and this is Aster, Julian's godmother and the healer at Legerdemain" Severus introduced giving Lucius a warning look "everyone these are the Malfoys. Lucius, his wife Narcissa and his son Draco"

Tanzanite popped out of his hiding place in Julian's hair and let an irritated puff of smoke ' _I didn't hear my title_ '

"Dear Merlin!" Lucius gasped and instinctively pulled himself and his family back a pace.

"not Merlin, his name is Tanzanite and he's my familiar" Julian pouted at the Malfoys odd reaction ' _be nice Tanzanite_ ' he hissed in parseltongue. He mistook the fear he felt as surprise because Tanzanite popped up so suddenly, but really the Malfoys recognized the creature as a dangerous creature to be around and the fear of parseltongue didn't help poor Julian understand.

' _I am my human. They're the ones acting weird_ ' the occamy hissed back as he grew a little and wrapped around Julian's neck.

The potion professor sighed "well now that we have had the awkward first impressions out of the way what do you say we get this tour started?" he urged as he set Julian on the ground with Mickey.

Brian chuckled feeling good about this despite Severus's worries "of course, stay close Julian" he said and they started walking. The Malfoys hesitated a moment, but then set Draco on the ground and followed.

"tell us if you get tired little dragon" Narcissa said softly still a little nervous about letting her child near an occamy, but no one else seemed concerned so she reluctantly allowed it. The group went into the courtyard to get a full view of the building and the Malfoys had to admit that the school was beautiful.

As they entered the main building Brain pointed to the first room off to the side "this is the storage areas and changing rooms for various sports. It's open now because we have club activities going on. In fact if you look out the side window over there you can see one of them going on" he said and picked up his son so he can see the art class going on below and Julian smiled as he recognized the professor walking around casually. Lucius let his son peek over the sill as well.

"what kind of activities do you have?" Narcissa asked.

"we have 16 different clubs. You saw the young man walking around the students down there? His name is Stephen and he handles the Mind & Magic class and the art club along with special classes for older students who need more help controlling their powers. Other clubs are music, chess and various sports clubs including dueling, soccer, karate, tennis, basketball and quidditch. Since I mentioned it Mind & Magic will be the first class you boys take" Brian explained as he looked down at the boys. He frowned slightly as Draco seemed to be glaring at Julian.

"Mind & Magic? What goes on in that class?" Lucius asked hoping it involves the mental training Draco will need to prevent the return of his magical disease.

Aster stepped in to answer that question "it involves what you call occlumency to protect their minds, contact their spirit beasts, find their animal if they are an animagus, find the element they are connected to and teaching kids to call and control their magic. We teach children wandless magic until they are 13 and it all starts with this class. Of course that' isn't the only class that is taught the first year. There are several others like potions, DADA, Herbology, Astronomy and the basics like math, reading and writing. All the magical classes are at lower levels and are perfectly safe for five year olds. The potion class works on identifying potions by smell and color first and what ingredients go together. Actual brewing is for 9 and up-oh and there are the potion professors!" she exclaimed as Silvia and Sophia came towards them.

"hi Aunty Silvia, Aunty Sophia!" Julian said happily.

Sophia smiled "hello Julian, sorry to interrupt-"

"-but we came to gave you a potion to remove a pesky mark" Silvia said as she handed Severus the potion.

"you just pour it over your mark and it will leave" Severus explained as he gave it to Lucius.

"I will try it after seeing what this school has to offer. What do I owe you?" Lucius asked.

"Severus made the offer meaning he is responsible for handling the payment" the twins said in perfect sync as they held Severus close.

For what ever reason the adults seemed to find his uncle's friendship with his aunts fascinating and wanted to hear all the details so since they were too busy continue the tour Julian tried talking with Draco "hi, do you want to be friends?"

"my parents say people who talk to snakes are evil" Draco huffed turning his nose up at taller boy. It didn't help that he was a bit jealous that Severus liked Julian more.

Tanzanite hissed ' _you nasty little human!_ '

' _it's ok Tanzanite_ ' Julian said calming the occamy down even though what Draco said did hurt his feelings "I'm sorry, but I'm not evil. My Daddy says so and that those people were just mean" he said firmly making Draco look at him in confusion. His Daddy always says he is not a freak or any different than anyone else and he believed him. Julian also remembered that his Daddy said that if someone does say anything like that to him he should remember that he's loved and to not take what that person says seriously because it's not true "would you like to play with Mickey?" he offered pointing to the happy wolf plush rolling on the ground at their feet.

Draco blinked and looked at the plush "ok"

Brian sighed in relief as he saw the boys start playing, but noticed a look from Severus and the twins "he still remembers some things especially through his nightmares" he whispered not bothering to explain further for the confused Malfoy parents.

"will he ever forget?" Severus asked hoping that there was a chance the little boy didn't have to live with the memories of such a terrible past.

Aster frowned "maybe, maybe not. We won't know for sure until he's older. Lets continue the tour. Come on boys!" she called out before Lucius could ask what it was they were talking about.

"yes lets" Brian said as he smiled down at his son feeling proud of the fact that Julian handled that so well on his own.

Sophia kissed Severus on his cheek just like her sister "Greg is here with Kathy if you want to talk with them. See you later Severus" she said with a smile as she left with her sister.

"that would be a good opportunity. Greg is the Deputy Headmaster and the DADA professor and Kathy is the Herbology professor" Brian said cheerfully and the tour continued.

It was amazing to see everything. Even Lucius had to admit they had everything Hogwarts had and then some. The choices of classes that were offered included Alchemy, basic Healing, Elemental training, an array of muggle classes and many others things. Though the muggle classes were not something the Malfoys cared for they had to admit they were needed for some especially when Severus reminded them of the alarming number of wizards who end up needing muggle jobs to make ends meet.

The two teachers they met were quite experienced and very good with kids. Greg Goldman was an older gentleman with very long white hair and a neatly trimmed bread. His posture was perfect, but while his slightly firm appearance might be considered intimidating for children. However kids couldn't be scared of him because of his hair, which was charmed to do all sorts of things. A slew of bubbles came out his hair when Brian brought everyone to the DADA classroom. Kathy was a slim pixie like woman with green hair and her hive of child friendly bowtruckle familiars that apparently help her teach in the greenhouse.

As the group left what was the dining hall Narcissa sighed"you were right Severus. This school is far better equipped than Hogwarts, but I don't understand how it is we are so far behind in these teachings" Narcissa said. It was baffling really. Arrogance is one thing, but to completely shut out the rest of the world is quite another.

"I think I know where the problem started" Severus said getting everyone's attention "any evidence of this separation starts around the time of the First Wizarding war"

Brian frowned "Gellert Grindelwald … even we felt the effects of that war. It wouldn't be a surprise at all if something happened around that time that caused a rift"

"or someone … it just so happens Dumbledore was the one who defeated that dark wizard and he gained a lot of influence in the magical world from it" Severus said and looked down to see Draco yawning as he held onto Mickey for support "I think it's time to get you home" Lucius nodded and scooped up his son, but he saw Julian whisper some to the wolf plush and it ran over to the floo they were in "Julian gave Draco his plush" Severus commented as Lucius sent him a quizzical look before joining them.

When the floo took them back to the Malfoy Manor Lucius finally asked what was bothering him "what was that about earlier? Who hurt Julian?"

"the muggles he was abandoned with at one years old … Death Eaters would be sickened by what that child suffered through before Brian found and blood adopted him" Severus said simply not going into any further detail.

Narcissa sighed as Severus clearly refused to say more on the subject and took the sleepy child from her husband's arms so he could try this potion. They watched silently as Lucius rolled up his left sleeve and poured the potion over the mark. He flinched as he felt a slight burning sensation, but it went away quickly clearly already doing its job. The dark mark first started to blur at the edges and slowly dissolved away.

"that settles it. Draco is going to Legerdemain Academy of Sorcery" Narcissa concluded as she saw her husband's bare arm free of that hideous black mark. Severus snorted knowing they were going the second they read about Draco's illness, but he just flooed away without commenting on it leaving the parents to tuck their son into bed for a nap.

"sleep tight little dragon" Lucius said and they left the room.

Draco curled up, but felt a weight next to him and saw the toy wolf laying next to him "maybe he's not that bad" Draco muttered with a light blush as he hugged the soft toy close to him and drifted off to sleep …

XXXXXXXXXX

"are you sure you wanted to give Mickey away?" Aster asked as they walked to another floo.

Julian stroked Tanzanite's scales "Draco liked him and Mickey has no feelings so I don't mind. Tanzanite's my friend"

' _and you are my only human_ ' Tanzanite hissed happily accidently tickling the boy's neck forked tongue.

"that makes sense" Brian chuckled after they flooed home. It took a while for Julian to accept his powers and he will need more practice, but he can tell what's important "I'm proud of you Julian. You handled yourself very well" Brian said as he picked up his son "how about we go on a small trip before school starts. Would seeing a beach down the ways be nice?"

Green eyes lit up "ok!" he exclaimed before holding the part of his blue shirt where the soul orb was against his skin. So far Severus has had know luck getting the main piece and final horcrux needed, but his ability to see auras can help! He knows his Daddy and Uncle wouldn't want him to find the last two parts of Tom's soul, but if he got stronger and smarter they can't tell him he can't go. Traveling like his Daddy will help him and school will help too.

Brian chuckled suspecting that his son wanted to help Tom Riddle, but he will make sure Julian doesn't spend his life worrying about that one thing "alright we can try some camping too"

"don't go overboard right before school you two" Aster warned with an amused smile as she flooed to her own home.

The summer flew by so fast it was almost a blur. Julian was taken to one of the islands off the coast so Gloria could swim along with them and later they went camping. It sparked the same love of travel Brian has in the little boy. By the time they returned from their mini trips it was time to celebrate Julian's birthday. It was the first birthday he spent with his new family and it also served as a small celebration for Severus who received his master, but really he liked celebrating the week after his birthday. After all it was the day Brian saved him, which means only two weeks later was the day of the blood adoption. That day, however, landed on another important day … the first day of school …

Stephen smiled as a group of children came into his classroom carrying toys or had their familiars with them as instructed for the first day of class. Julian looked so much healthier and Tanzanite was flying around his head before settling down around the boy's neck "hello everyone! Please have a seat on any cushion on the floor with your familiar or toy in your lap and get comfy. We are going to start learning about your magic today" he gave the kids a moment to settle down before plopping down on his larger cushion, which he found far more comfortable for this process "ok first, don't worry about not having a little animal friend because part of this class will help you find one like I did with Nin" Stephen said and right on cue a big eyed Bush Baby dropped onto his head making the kids snicker "now we are going to start by getting in pairs and introducing each other. Then we will hold our partner's hands and try to go into a relaxed state. When that's done we'll go over what we learned with this one test"

Julian looked around nervously, but saw Draco and Mickey without a partner and went over carrying his cushion "can we be partners?"

"yeah sure" Draco said indifferently. He didn't show it, but Julian could tell he was happy …


	11. Unwanted Invite

**(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Yaoi M/M, Harem – top Harry x bottoms Draco / Tom (TMR) / Cedric**

 **Last Time:**

"yeah sure" Draco said indifferently. He didn't show it, but Julian could tell he was happy …

XXXXXXXXXX

"he won't catch us this time Fred" whispered one red haired teen as he snuck down the dark halls of Hogwarts with his twin brother by his side.

"that's right George, we have to get just one prank in before the train leaves tomorrow" Fred whispered. The sneaky twins crept silently through the dark corridors with only two lanterns to light the way. They had everything they needed to prank the entire Great hall so several paint bombs of many different colors would go off under the headmaster's chair completed with a shower of charmed glitter that won't come off with any cleaning spell. To prank the most powerful wizard in such a way would give the reputation of being the greatest pranksters ever! All their attempts to prove their pranking prowess so far have been thwarted by one person …

Professor Severus Snape …

The man always seems to know when they're planning a prank, where to be to catch them in the act and some how consistently knew which twin was which. Their own parents never managed to do that! The wizard has become the twins biggest test and was by far their favorite professor. Severus may have always caught them, but he was pretty nice about it. He only punished them when they were clearly going to try a humiliating or potentially dangerous prank. If the prank was something harmless he just takes the supplies they have on them at the time and takes them back to the Gryffindor dorms. They only received one howler from their mother too, which Professor Snape insisted they open it in his office instead of in front of everyone else, but the fact that they got only one howler means that the professor didn't always report their misdeeds.

"finally! We did it!" the twins exclaimed softly as they completed their last charm for the trap. Both twins stiffened as they heard the sound of someone turning the page of a magazine and slowly turned to see Professor Snape sitting next to the lantern they placed on the end of the Ravenclaw table closest to them "P-professor?"

Severus looked up from his magazine "don't worry boys, I'm not going to stop this prank nor will I punish you … there'd hardly be any logic to that when school ends tomorrow. You both did an excellent job of getting passed me this time. I must say I'm impressed" he said genuinely surprised. Of course he was busy plotting a few things himself. He has been wanting to do this for many years. 7 years to be exact. Ever since he saw that four year old boy named Julian go through his blood adoption.

"you don't mind? … are you going to warn the headmaster?" Fred and George asked in perfect sync.

"nope … the headmaster is 120 some years old and has been at the school as a staff member for 80 years so I think he can handle a joke" Severus said with a shrug as he stood up (besides he will need to get used to being the butt of every joke soon) Severus thought sadistically.

It was the end of June and soon Julian will be 11 years old. Normally a child destined for Hogwarts will receive a letter only two weeks before school starts in September, but Harry James Potter was the one who was signed up for Hogwarts not Julian River White. Hogwarts will take account of the blood adoption and blank out his name as if he was never there. No letter written by the magical school will be sent for Julian. Of course no one will realize this until they find that Harry isn't at school. Only when people start kicking up a fuss and wasting resources trying to find a boy they don't deserve will it be revealed by the goblins that Harry Potter was adopted and his name was not only changed, but he was not even in the same country. Severus had no doubt that the goblins will love breaking the news …

"ok professor! So we really got passed you?" the twins asked eagerly as they grabbed the lanterns before following the professor.

Severus chuckled as he folded his magazine and tucked it under his arm "yes you both did, however, it's still too dangerous too be out this late. Back to bed" he said and escorted them back to their dorms.

"then you'll be in trouble next year when our little brother, Ron, gets here" George grinned cheekily as they neared the moving stairs.

"oh? Is he more like you two or like Percy?" Severus asked.

"well thankfully he isn't like Percy, but … we're working on him" Fred said sneakily.

"not the pranking mastermind like you two then" the potions professor concluded in amusement.

"barely a mind at all" the twins snickered.

"doesn't sound like I'll be in trouble" Severus said with a fake sigh of relief.

"hey professor, what are you reading?" Fred asked curiously.

George tilted his head and brought the lantern closer to the magazine so he could see the title and his jaw dropped in shock upon seeing the wedding magazine showing different wedding venues "Blimy! Are you getting married Professor Snape!?' George exclaimed just loud enough for some of the living portraits along the walls near the Gryffindor dorm entrance to wake up.

Before the portraits could see them Severus cast a 'not notice me' spell "yes actually" he answered casually.

The twins eyes lit up "COOL! Do we know who it is? Guy or girl? How long have you been dating?"

The potion master raised his hands in a defensive move though he looked more amused then anything else "calm down. I've been dating two woman-yes, they both know about each other" Severus added quickly before the twins thought he was a two timer or something "in fact, they're twin sisters and potion masters. The three of us been dating for about 6 ½ years and I proposed a over the summer last year, but we all teach so we only started planning now. Now that's enough on my personal life. Off to bed with you troublemakers"

"night professor!" the twins said the password and the Fat Lady opened her door though she looked a little startled since she couldn't see the student talking to her. Right after the twins disappeared behind the door Severus dropped the spell and let out an amused sigh as he heard all the portraits chattering about his personal business. Not that it mattered really. This is the last year he had too hide his life away from Dumbledore.

In the morning Severus walked into the Great hall and was immediately confronted by Minerva "what's this rumor going around about you getting married?" she asked and she would clearly be a little hurt that Severus wouldn't tell her personally if it turned out the rumors were true.

"bloody hell those portraits gossip fast. Yes it's true. Before you yell at me keep in mind I am a target for any wayward Death Eaters whether they believe I'm with them or not" Severus said using the best excuse he had that wasn't the full truth. Yes it was technically true, but he can avoid those idiots easily by going home to Australia. The main reason for years of silence was, of course, Julian …

"oh, that's right … I'm sorry" Minerva apologized sheepishly. It was easy to forget that a few of Voldemort's followers were still active even so long after the war. If any of them tried to seek Severus out for help and noticed how he was teaching with Voldemort's sworn enemy they would immediately realize that he was a spy. That would be dangerous for both Severus and the person he's marrying.

"could I have a moment alone with Severus, Minerva?" Dumbledore asked as he entered the Great Hall, which was empty save for the three of them.

"yes of course Albus" Minerva said and went the the hall to make sure the students were coming.

Dumbledore gave the potions professor a concerned grandfatherly look "Severus is what the portraits saying true? You are going to get married? That is terribly unwise-"

"it has been 11 years Albus. If he was going to return he would've found a way by now especially with those remaining followers out there brave enough to search for him. I won't put my life on hold just to return to being a spy for some point that might not come. Why are you so sure Voldemort is still alive?" Severus hissed harshly under his breath.

The headmaster looked stunned "Severus you just need to trust-"

Severus snorted knowing he would never get the truth out of the old manipulative fool "no Albus, you either tell me the full truth or I go on with my life and don't bother using that mark as leverage. I found a way to remove it" he snapped as he rolled up the left sleeve of his white button up sheet revealing the shocking sight of a bare forearm.

"how-" Albus started to interrogate the professor, but was quickly interrupted by hordes of students who were excited for their last breakfast here before going home for the summer. The headmaster lost all his friendly twinkle for a second as he was clearly furious that Severus refused him, but he had no choice but to go to his seat. It was even more infuriating when he remembered it was the last day of the school year and he technically couldn't speak with Severus again until after the summer. He decided to simply threaten to fire Severus if he didn't cooperate right before leaving and let the young wizard think about his actions.

Most of the kids were seated when they heard a loud popping sound and everyone saw Dumbledore covered in paint and sparkling. It was the perfect end of the year and by far the funniest …

Afterwards Severus tried to leave, but Dumbledore had to get the last word in. He ignored the threat and flooed to his own home where he saw Silvia and Sophia waiting for him. Technically the schools had different vacation start times. Legerdemain won't be on break for another few weeks.

"you're going to confront the Dursleys aren't you" Sophia said simply as she looked at their husband to be.

"yes" Severus answered honestly. Never had he mentioned his plans for his godson's tormentors, but they must've realized it eventually.

Silvia pouted "without us? That's not fair"

"you want to come?" Severus raised an eyebrow not sure if this was a wise idea.

"we grew up with monsters Severus. Don't think you can destroy Julian's monsters without letting us look them in the eyes before they realize karma has come for them like our monsters?" Sophia asked. More than anything else she wanted to see the people who hurt Julian years ago.

"this will take all night and you need to teach in the morning" Severus said pointedly as he sat between them.

"then wait until after Julian's MOEs, birthday and when he leaves on that trip to Africa with Brian … besides you haven't told the Malfoys about Harry Potter yet. They should probably be given a heads up" Silvia remarked. Severus sighed as he thought about his friends. Julian never had a problem with that secret being told. In fact he told Draco a year ago and Draco kept that secret. Maybe it was time to tell them the full truth. If anything they'll want to see the muggles and squib too …

XXXXXXXXXX

Draco sat in his bedroom thinking back over the years. He had just turned 11 recently and so did his friend Julian. They both just completed their MOEs in the end of the last school year and were now enjoying the summer while trying to think about the Dragon exams in four years. It's these recent or future thoughts that made him think of the past and how things changed.

Over the years he started to realize how warped his family's original beliefs and the current beliefs of the magical people of the UK are. Just yesterday his parents took him to a trip to Diagon Alley, which they rarely go to anymore since there's nothing there he needs for school, it was like stepping back in time. A dark and depressing time at that. People were so close minded especially the ones taunting the poor snakes in the pet shop. For him that hurt the most because he used to be like that. He would walk through those streets as a young child with his parents and he even asked one time why they were taunting the snakes. Even though it was years ago he recalled his father saying that the evil Dark Lord was able to speak to snakes and somehow that meant snakes were evil too, but that it was only those who could speak to them. Come to think of it that was the only time his father discussed the Dark Lord who once waged war on the magical world in the UK.

However that one comment was proved false not long after meeting his friend Julian. Of course the full reality of how wrong his family's teachings were didn't sink in right away. A blush came to Draco's cheeks as he remembered what a brat he was that first year of school. In the UK Malfoys were high up in society because of their wealth and pure blood status, but no one cared in Legerdemain. No one treated him better or sucked up to him like kids from other UK families. People just rolled their eyes when he bragged about having pure blood because it wasn't highly coveted like in the UK. During his first DADA class he said a nasty comment about muggles being weak and that it was stupid to learn muggle style fighting. He ended up eating his words right away when he was allowed to use magic against his peers in the first duels and ended up losing big time since they were able to get close and pin him. Suffice to say it he didn't get along with people. Julian was his only friend for awhile …

"merlin I was a brat" Draco muttered.

' _you were a pup adapting to a new habitat. It's understandable for you to have a rough patch my human_ '

Draco looked up at a tan colored Golden Jackal trotting into his bedroom and up to him "you're right Sasha, but I can't help feeling foolish"

' _you learned, many humans aren't capable of doing that. Now lets go downstairs. That envelope with your grades arrived_ ' Sasha reported and followed Draco as he got up, but she looked at the wolf plush sitting inactive on the shelf ' _why do you keep that thing?_ '

"it's the first present Julian gave me" Draco smiled softly as he ran his fingers through Mickey's fur gently.

' _ah, the first courtship gift_ ' Sasha nodded understandingly before leaving the room and heading down the stairs.

The blonde blushed (it's not a courtship gift!) he yelled through the mental link he had with his familiar, but all he got as a response was chuckling so he huffed and went downstairs where his parents had a letter "good it came"

Lucius chuckled as he gave his son the envelope "I think I'm more nervous than you" he said as his son calmly opened the envelope and looked at the grades. It was more impressive than Draco realized. Lucius and Narcissa did some research on the Magic Overall Exam, or MOE, and it was a little more advanced than the OWLs, which they took at 15 with wands not wandless at 10! The Malfoy parents could not be more proud.

"straight As across the board" Draco said proudly and quickly checked off a couple optional classes.

"that's wonderful! Would you like anything to celebrate?" Narcissa asked happily as she hugged her son.

" I'll think about it. For now I'm going to the beach and do swimming" the blonde commented as he wandlessly summoned his bag. It wasn't difficult to stay in shape for the swim team over the summer since the vacation house his parents bought was right on the beach.

"ok, but be careful-oh … I wonder if Julian got his report card" Narcissa pondered. It was a puzzling question since Julian and his father were wandering around Africa right now.

"probably not. I bet it's waiting in his mailbox though I doubt it's a big concern. He has enough to think about with what's to come" Draco said cryptically before going outside with Sasha following him.

Lucius raised an eyebrow "what was that supposed to mean?"

"plenty" Severus ducked a spell. Apparently he startled Narcissa and Lucius because they whirled around and fired at him. Thankfully they finally saw who it was and stopped "oook … you guys are a bit on edge today" the potion master muttered as he stood up.

"sorry Severus. We went to Diagon Alley yesterday and … well we saw some old comrades. I don't think they saw us, but it was unnerving to say the least" Lucius admitted.

Severus immediately made a mental note to not inform theM about the Tom Riddle and horcrux issue. It wouldn't be wise with them being this edgy "I can certainly understand that and I should've called out instead assuming you heard the floo … as for why I stopped by, it's about Julian"

"is something wrong?" the concerned Lady Malfoy asked.

"no … it's about his past … Julian was born Harry Potter" Severus instantly grabbed their attention and they went to sit in the living room. Everything was described from the abuse Harry went through to Brian and Dumbledore's involvement to how he came to being Julian's godfather. Severus waited silently as his friends processed the information.

"Draco knows all this already doesn't he" Lucius realized as he thought back over the cryptic comment his son made earlier.

Severus nodded "Julian told him personally"

"the poor boy … oh Merlin, the entire UK will be expecting Harry Potter at Hogwarts! What happens if he never comes?" Narcissa exclaimed in horror.

"chaos, shear unadulterated chaos. They have no choice over their beloved savior's life and they can't dragged him anywhere he doesn't want to go, but they will think he was taken and everyone will scramble to find him. Before they put all their resources into finding Harry the goblins will announce the truth about Julian. I think they'll go heavy on the abuse details, but before that comes I'm going to deal with those who _cared_ for Julian" Severus bit out sarcastically.

Lucius's eyes narrowed as he stood with his wife "not without us you're not"

That night after Draco went to sleep Lucius, Narcissa, Severus, Silvia and Sophia went to the place that was once the place where Julian was tortured. As Lucius went to drag the squib out of hiding the others magically unlocked the door and stepped inside. They heard a man saying …

" _one moment Petunia I need to burn this letter_ "

It was Vernon Dursley and that was the last thing he said that wasn't a scream of pain. No one saw Ms. Figg, Petunia, Vernon or Dudley and thanks to a deeper scan of the mind a women named Marge who owned violent dogs also vanished …

XXXXXXXXXX

Gloria rose to the surface of the water just in time to see a huge dark blue occamy flying over head and riding on its back was an 11 year old green eyed wizard ' _tanzanite, Julian, it's good to see you both. How was the trip?_ ' the crocodile looked over to see a familiar wolf made out of smoke standing on the river bank ' _you're getting rusty there Brian_ '

The wolf became solid as it shifted into the tall blonde headmaster "yes I believe I am" he chuckled sheepishly "we need to unpack Julian-oh!, go grab your report card too! If we got any mail it should be in my desk. It must've been waiting a week"

"ok Dad!" Julian yelled and flew ahead on Tanzanite's back. The occamy skillfully touched down on the bridge leading to Brian's office. The young wizard jumped off of Tanzanite and the occamy shrank down to curl up on the wavy blonde hair.

' _lets see these grades. You studied a longtime for it. The only test animals is very simple. You die, you fail_ ' Tanzanite chatted casually.

" _that would be the ultimate fail I suppose_ " Julian deadpanned, but shook off the thoughts and went to his Dad's desk. In the distance he could hear the elevator going up and his Dad walking into the dining room to make a few quick snacks to relax after a long trip. There were two letters waiting, but one shocked him.

Tanzanite felt that his human was greatly troubled and looked at the letter ' _what trickery is this?_ ' he growled and released a rather large flame for his current size, which goes to show just how pissed he was. With the small occamy flying along with him Julian ran to the kitchen and before his Dad could say a word he thrust the letter into his hand.

"I thought Uncle Severus said I wouldn't get one" the young confused boy panted as his Dad looked at the letter. Brian's eyes widened when he saw the letter was addressed to 'Harry James Potter' …


	12. Mischievous Minister

**(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Yaoi M/M, Harem – top Harry x bottoms Draco / Tom (TMR) / Cedric**

 **Last Time:**

"I thought Uncle Severus said I wouldn't get one" the young confused boy panted as his Dad looked at the letter. Brian's eyes widened when he saw the letter was addressed to 'Harry James Potter' …

XXXXXXXXXX

 _To Harry James Potter_

 _4 Privet Drive_

 _In the cupboard under the stairs_

"seriously? I lived under the stairs?" Julian asked curiously and looked a bit concerned too as he looked more closely at the letter's envelope. He had only a few memories of when he was young and him recovering in his father's care. Other than that he recalled some nightmares and little glimpses of memories like the bark of a dog or a really fat person, but not a lot about the actual abuse he knew he was recovering from. Admittedly something about this letter felt like someone was trying to poke open old wounds with a sharp stick. It made him uneasy.

Brian frowned not wanting Julian to think too much about this when it took years for the bulk of the memories and nightmares to fade "it's best you don't think about it" he said before handing Severus the letter. The potion master came the second Brian floo called him and he carefully examined every inch of the letter that shouldn't even exist and opened it …

 _HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

 _Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

 _Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,  
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards …_

 _Dear Mr. Potter,_

 _You are have been accepted to Hogwarts …_

"it looks legit, but this isn't right … Hogwarts should've canceled your letter when you were adopted … and this information is outdated and Minerva's signature is off. It doesn't look like her handwriting. Magic doesn't make these mistakes. If the school wrote this magically it would be accurate, which means someone wrote this by hand and sent it to the Dursleys thinking you were still there. After all any owl would look for the person to give the letter to not dump it at a muggle's home, especially not something so personal, unless they were instructed to. Dumbledore is the only one capable of this, but why would he think he had to write a letter personally in the first place if the school would've handled it- … Julian?" Severus paused just as his brain was close to exploding and saw Julian look at the letter almost as if he were in a trance.

The green eyes skimmed the paper "there's two traces of magic on the letter. I sense a cold greedy aura"

"Dumbledore. I guess really does leave a slimy trail in his wake" Severus answered with a sneer.

Julian smirked in amusement at his godfather's dry humor "perhaps … the other aura is ancient and kind, but trapped in a way … she seems so very sad and wants help … I want to stop at Hogwarts" Julian shivered and pulled out his most precious item from around his neck, which was the orb with fluttering soul fragments "Tom wants to go too it seems" he said as he saw all the little fragments moving against the glass as if trying to get the letter. No doubt the soul was reacting to the familiarity of the letter or perhaps it was one of the auras on the letters.

"we might go, but I think we should talk to the UK Minister" Brian said and raised an eyebrow at the horrified look on Severus's face "what?"

"I'm just trying to wrap my head around the fact that you just said that … either you lost your semi-seer power or there was a new minister elected in the ten minutes I was gone because I can't imagine Cornelius Fudge being very helpful in any respect" Severus remarked sarcastically.

"I feel it would be an eye opener" Brian said with a shrug.

"right … lets focus on something that actually makes sense. Julian did you get your grades?" Severus asked hoping to see all good grades to prove all is right with the world.

"hmmm?" Julian blinked more than a little confused, but he chuckled sheepishly as he finally remembered the other letter he received "oh right, I left it in Dad's office, I'll go get it" Julian ran off with the currently bird sized occamy trailing behind him and soon returned with the letter in hand "it's all As" he announced happily after opening the envelope and reading the results.

Severus sighed in relief "well clearly the entire world hasn't completely gone insane so since I'm sure of that now lets go meet Fudge" he said taking the Hogwarts letter with him.

' _he seems rattled_ ' Tanzanite hissed as he landed on Julian's head.

"yeah … what kind of guy is the UK minister if you wanting to go to him for help would make Uncle Sev question reality?" Julian asked glancing up at his Dad.

Brian frowned "I don't know, but I can't shake the feeling we need to speak with him so it's worth a shot" he said, but his frown deepened as he watched Severus mumbling to himself while checking his pulse "I think"

The headmaster of Legerdemain sighed and pushed the still stunned potion professor into the living room floo. Julian grabbed the floo powder and gave the container to his godfather who was the one who knew where they were going. Instead of going to the ministry Severus first took them to the Malfoy home in Australia. They found Draco with his family in the living room looking just as dumbfounded as them.

"ummm … is something wrong Brian?" Narcissa asked curious as to why they were there.

"not sure, ask Severus" Brian commented as he and Julian looked at Severus wondering if he lost it.  
"I didn't go insane. Lucius do you still have Ministry clearance?" Severus asked and that did make sense. It shouldn't be that easy to floo into a government building.

Lucius nodded "yes. I'm still technically on the Broad of Education and Wizengamot among other things, why?"

"Julian got a Hogwarts letter" Severus growled as he held up the letter still in his hand

"WHAT?" Draco snapped and ran over to see this letter faster than his parents "it's in your old name, but how? … you lived in a cupboard?" Draco looked at his friend feeling a strong urge to hug him and offer comfort so he did. He could tell this affected Julian who hugged back firmly.

Tanzanite looked down at Draco from the spot on Julian's head and huffed ' _he's smaller than we last met. You're a head taller than him_ ' he muttered clearly just wanting to go and get this letter situation discussed so he can burn the one responsible to a crisp. No one messes with his human and lives to tell about it.

"this isn't right" Lucius frowned as he took the letter and skimmed it.

"we were planning on speaking with the minister of the UK" Brian was starting to question his instincts when even Lucius gave him an odd look.

"you guys should go then. I'll handle the Gringotts arrangements honey" Narcissa said as she leaned up and kissed Lucius.

"I'm coming to" Draco said as he and Sasha flooed away with the group leaving his mother behind. They appeared in huge hallway that had several large fireplaces going along the walls.

Julian looked down at Draco as Tanzanite shrank smaller and hid in his hair so he didn't cause a commotion yet "what is your Mom arranging?"

The silver eyed blonde smiled "we're having a moon room of my own built"

"that's big news" Brian said cheerily as he followed Lucius and Severus.

"It is. He trained so hard with his elemental magic we thought it was time he had a place to meditate" Lucius commented.

Years ago when he learned about Draco's Cyclic disease and that his disease was the type tied to the Lunar cycles he would've been horrified at the thought of letting Draco get involved with anything moon related. Now he knew what Draco needed. If his son was going to prevent his magic from getting caught in that disease again he needed a strong foundation in his elements and a healthy bond with the moon's magic. Draco's magic, whether he would've developed the disease or not, was strongly connected to the night, the moon and the element of water. Since he was strong in those areas he found a familiar that was a jackal. A creature strongly connected to the moon. With a strong familiar and excellent training the disease won't appear again.

The group went up a few floors in an old cage elevator and made their way to a desk where the minister's secretary was seated "excuse me, we have to see the Minister" Lucius said firmly making it quite clear that this was an important matter.

"the minister is busy" she said with a sneer as she looked at the other, obviously foreign, people in the group.

"no I'm not Carol" the group turned to see a gray haired man putting a pocket watch back into his suit jacket "please follow me and you can tell me why you're here" he said politely and lead everyone into the office ignoring the disapproving look the secretary sent him "now, Lord Malfoy, we haven't seen you at Wizengamot lately and I was only elected a month ago so we haven't actually met yet though it's still surprising to see you with the headmaster of Legerdemain"

Severus's jaw dropped "how do you know Brian?"

Brian chuckled at his friends' stunned expressions "I don't think he means he knows me personally"

"no no no. My apologies, I didn't mean to imply that. You see I have family in Australia and they keep me up to date on the events including various school events" Cornelius said as he gestured for them all to have a seat.

Lucius raised an eyebrow as he sat next to his son "I'm sorry it's just during your election you seemed so …"

"traditional? Close minded? Pigheaded? Perfectly willing to keep everything as it is so people can remain happily blind to the outside world so they can keep their foolish beliefs of superiority? … I know, that is what got me elected, but I don't care to keep up the stupidity. Now what is the problem?" Cornelius Fudge asked happily.

"I adopted my son Julian when he was four and enrolled him in in school at five, but for some reason we received this" Brian said as he handed the minister the letter.

"my son, Draco, has gone to the same school as Julian for years, but, as we expected, he didn't get a Hogwarts letter" Lucius remarked pointedly as he got over his surprise. He regretted not voting for this minister.

Cornelius nodded I understanding as he opened the letter that was a bit wrinkled from being passed around "Harry Potter? It was believed that Harry was being cared for. I was an auror and I would've heard anything saying anything contrary to that. May I ask how that adoption came to be and if I could see the records?"

"he was abused badly by his muggle relatives the Dursleys. I felt his magic dying and went to help. Gringotts arranged the adoption. I'll call Daggerfang, he has all the records" Brian said as he pulled out his phone and began dialing.

The minister stood up and pulled down a huge book that definitely had a 'feather light' spell on it if he could move it and spoke quietly as Brian spoke with the goblin "this is the book that contains all the names of past and present magical people in the UK. This … is my name" he opened the book for the two young kids and pointed at his name, which unlike all the other names on the page, was grayed out and had the name Cornelius Fudge written next to it in crisp black ink "this is a book that magically records your name when your born and keeps track of your name changes like the way my name changed after i was adopted. It should react to bouts of accidental magic and your touch too, like this" he poked his name and it twinkled "now where is your former name- everything being sent?" he said when he noticed Brian put the phone down as he flipped through the book to find Harry Potter.

"yes, Daggerfang is coming with the records" Brian said and he raised an eyebrow, like everyone there, when the minister showed that the name was in crisp black ink, instead of the grayed out version it should be, as if claiming Harry Potter was never adopted "that's not right"

"normally I would have good reason to assume you were all lying, but let me try this first" Cornelius took the Hogwarts letter and tapped it against the name. Nothing happened, which made the minister frown in confusion "this book should be connected to the one in Hogwarts. This name should twinkle when in contact with the letter … that is strange … wait a minute" he pulled out a hanky and blotted the name 'Harry Potter' and it started to blur "you have got to be kidding … someone erased your name and used regular ink to fill in the blank" the minister plopped down in his chair with a sigh.

Severus's eyes narrowed "you said that book reacts to accidental magic"

"yes it does and under age magic. That's how our obliviate team knows where to go to reverse the magic and remove he memories from muggles. Erasing the magical signature, which is not easy, would mean- … oh … I see. So that's how you went through the abuse without anyone knowing. I wouldn't be surprised if he- never mind, I see your goblin has arrived"

Brian frowned as Daggerfang approached the desk "yes this is Daggerfang the manager of Julian's accounts"

"and these are the documents you require. Julian's godfather, Severus Snape, and his godmother, Aster Jewel, were the witnesses to the blood adoption" Daagerfang reported.

Cornelius looked through the documents and nodded in satisfaction "this proves it, but this means someone took away your safety, which lead to this and it has to do with this letter from Hogwarts … actually now that you're here Daggerfang, may I ask if I can see the Potter parents wills? Perhaps the magical guardian they assigned is responsible"

The goblin glance at Brian and Julian, who both nodded in approval, and snapped his fingers making two wills appear "the wills of Lily and James Potter"

"thank you" the minister said as he took hold of the wills. His eyes nearly popped out of his head "this says you were never supposed to go to the Dursleys … oh no, Sirius Black wasn't even their secret keeper. Excuse me a moment, I have to arrange for his trial and release"

"WHAT?" Severus snapped once the minister left the room. He respectfully took the wills and read them through carefully. There it was in black and white. Peter Pettigrew was the secret keeper and both wills say Julian was never supposed to end up in the Dursley's care. All the names of those who could care for Julian were unable because they were dead, in prison or, in the Longbottoms' case, in St. Mungo's. He may have hated Sirius Black and knew being in his care wouldn't have been good for Julian, but the arrogant blockhead didn't deserve getting sent to Azkaban. It will be annoying seeing the jerk again, but it wasn't right to leave him there "Alice Longbottom signed each as a witness, but … no, he had to be involved somehow. Dumbledore was close to each of these people who could've cared for you so it would too coincidental if he knew nothing about this"

Daggerfang smirked "speaking of the Hogwarts headmaster I do have some information you might like to hear. Apparently through a complex family tree you actually own Hogwarts"

"so I can come and go as I please?" when the goblin nodded in affirmative Julian looked at his Dad looking for permission.

Brian sighed in amusement "our school starts later in the year so maybe"

"cool … hey Dad can I visit Julian?" Draco asked clearly not as innocent as he sounded.

"I'll talk with your mother about it" Lucius said amusedly. No doubt his son wanted a small token of revenge against Albus Dumbledore who hurt his friend.

Severus's smirk became a little sadistic "or better yet you two should try riding the train like any other student had to do and walk right out of the front door upon arriving"

"just so you all know I can hear what goes on in this office even when I'm not physically in the room" Cornelius said pointedly as he came back into his office.

"we'd be worried if you didn't have such security charms in place" Severus scoffed as he gave the goblin the wills "besides, when you changed the subject earlier it seemed like you had an idea who was behind this … oversight" the potion aster said trying to find the most diplomatic term for what happened to Julian.

Cornelius sighed "yes and since you all have your own reservations towards the man I will say I believe he is involved with far too much. Just speaking about your past, Julian, it's clear someone with Wizengamot level clearance managed to screw a lot up. That combined with cases I worked on as an auror I can honestly say Dumbledore is not as light as he claims. I won't go into detail, but many of those cases were pretty nasty murders" he explained clearly not wanting to bring up gory details with 11 year olds in the room, which the adults greatly appreciated.

"if you want justice for any victims or even have a chance at revealing Dumbledore for what he is you'll need just the right leverage" Brian said suspecting Cornelius realized he had the perfect opening sitting right in front of him.

The minister of magical Britain nodded and looked at Julian and Draco "I know, but there may be a solution … now neither of you have to agree. You both stop at Hogwarts, not as students, but as representatives of your own school. I'm suggesting pitting Legerdemain against Hogwarts to begin revealing the truth. Would you like to do this?"


	13. Final Fragments

**(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Yaoi M/M, Harem – top Harry x bottoms Draco / Tom (TMR) / Cedric**

 **Last Time:**

The minister of magical Britain nodded and looked at Julian and Draco "I know, but there may be a solution … now neither of you have to agree. You both stop at Hogwarts, not as students, but as representatives of your own school. I'm suggesting pitting Legerdemain against Hogwarts to begin revealing the truth. Would you like to do this?"

XXXXXXXXXX

"this isn't as interesting as father made it sound" Draco mumbled softly as the train shook a little. He glared at the people in their compartment who were commenting on his Jackal familiar before looking down at the young wizard sleeping with his head in Draco's lap (ok maybe it's not too bad) he thought as he gently ran his fingers through Julian's hair being careful not to wake the ring sized Tanzanite hidden in the wavy golden red locks.

Suddenly Julian's eyes snapped open once the other occupant changed to gossiping about Harry Potterand he sat up enough so his face was just a fraction of an inch away from Draco's "lets ditch this place"

"ok" Draco said without really realizing it since he was too focused on Julian's lips.

One of the other passengers scoffed "you must be stupid if you think you can find another compartment. The train is full" the Hogwarts students snickered as if they made a clever insult.

One witch swooned "not to mention Harry Potter is on the train somewhere and who wouldn't want to meet him!" she squealed in a fangirlish way and the others nodded in agreement making Draco roll his eyes.

(as if he'd want anything to do with suffocating fans that only care about the 'Boy Who Lived' crap and not who he is as a person. No wonder Julian wants to leave) Draco thought as he got fed up over all the 'Potter' gossip that was completely incorrect. He will have to tell his father about these books that could not have been written with Julian's permission even though they claim to be about Harry Potter.

Julian forced a smile "good thing that's not what I meant" he said ignoring the 'Harry Potter' statement as he took Draco's hand and wandlessly opened the window shocking the other students who couldn't do wandless magic though they were each around 16-17 years old.

Draco saw the tiny occamy zip out the window and knew where this was going "would you like to come Sasha?"

' _no, jackals are wise enough to keep their paws on solid ground. Besides I'm sure you want to be alone with Julian as much as I want to have a moment alone with these snots_ ' Sasha secretly spoke with her wizard through the familiar bond. No doubt she wanted a little pay back for those unflattering comments about her being weird for not being an owl like other familiars, which is stupid! Those feather dusters send mail not stay with their wizard to protect and no one seems to understand any of the owls or cats they claim are familiars, which means no bond. No understanding means no bond. No bond means it's not a familiar!

The Malfoy smirked as his jackal stretched out on the bench he and Julian were on before "don't hurt them too badly" he said as he followed Julian right out the window. The shrieks of horror were heard behind them as they fell through the air. Tanzanite grew to his supposed full sized form and gracefully flew under the bridge the train was riding across to catch both the Legerdemain students.

"thanks Draco. If I heard Harry Potter again I was going to hex someone" Julian said a frustrated sigh.

"y-yeah" Draco said nervously. It just so happens they landed on Tanzanite so Draco was sitting in front of Julian, which meant Julian could help him stay on the occamy by wrapping his arms around Draco's waist. He really tried to steady his heart rate, but it was difficult since the warm arms supporting him around his waist felt so nice "wave to the Hogwarts students" he smirked mischievously and they both waved as the occamy flew around the train a few times before flying ahead. They sight of all those students gaping and scrambling to see the occamy fly by was hilarious.

As they neared Hogwarts way ahead of schedule Julian noticed several people he recognized standing in the courtyard with other clearly annoyed people "so that's Dumbledore … he does not look pleased" Julian commented as he spotted an old wizard trying to talk to his Aunt Sophia and Aunt Silvia who were carrying bags and following his godfather into the castle.

"what are they doing?" Draco asked as he watched his father, Julian's father and the minister cut Dumbledore off before he could stop Severus.

"they just got married remember" Draco blushed as he recalled the memory of Julian in a suit looking very handsome as the best man "they couldn't decide on a place to honeymoon until they found out Hogwarts belongs to me"

Draco burst out laughing "they're going to annoy the hell out of Dumbledore"

"that's the plan! Lets go say hi" Julian smirked as Tanzanite glided down from his spot high in the sky "hey guys!" the young green eyed wizard.

"I can't allow this-dear merlin!" Dumbledore looked at the occamy in horror as it gracefully landed "you boys get away from that beast right now" he ordered and pointed his wand threateningly at the dark blue occamy as if he was going to protect the boys on its back.

' _I dare you human fool. Cast the first spell so I may show you my fire. I will make you pay for hurting my human_ ' Tanzanite hissed with a puff of fire leaving his beak.

Cornelius sighed as all the Hogwarts professors looked worried for the two boys when they didn't need to be "would everyone just calm down! Tanzanite is Julian's familiar"

Minerva gasped and looked at Brian with disapproval "you got your son an occamy for a familiar!"

"got? Familiars follow the bond to the wizard. You can't buy a familiar. Tanzanite is magically bonded to Julian and has been since birth. Of course Tanzanite couldn't find Julian until his magic was unsealed, but they're together now and Tanzanite would only ever hurt those who hurt Julian" Brian explained politely though Minerva opened her mouth to argue some more as Tanzanite shrank and curled around Julian's neck. Her argument was cut short by Dumbledore who started yelling at Silva and Sophia again.

"you ladies you must leave now! This is a school not a honeymoon suite and you should leave too Severus. After all your contract expired and you don't teach here anymore" Dumbledore said trying to sound saddened by the change, but really he was only pissed that he had to find a new less troublemaking spy for when Voldemort returns.

"that's not true Albus. Now would everyone here take one second to listen to me I can explain" all the professors of Hogwarts and Legerdemain and the parents and godparents quieted down "thank you. The fact is that Julian is the founders' heir and he owns Hogwarts, which is actually is still labeled as a resident not a school. Also since he's a minor his godfather and father can come and go as they please as well"

"a-all of t-the f-founders! E-even S-Slytherin!" stuttered a man with a turban catching Julian's attention. Julian could feel a very familiar aura coming from the back of the man's head! It was the main fragment of Tom's soul! If he could place the soul orb on that part of his body then he can get the fragment and there'd only be one left!

Cornelius nodded "yes, the goblins in Australia explained everything. Apparently Lily Evans was the heir of Slytherin and Raven-"

"what do the Potters have to do with this?" Minerva snapped getting a little annoyed with this conversation that produced more questions than answers with each sentence.

"I am so sorry!" the minister chuckled "we got so wrapped up in getting the topic of Severus marriage and honeymoon straightened out that I forgot the other reason I came. You see Julian White is, or to be more precise he was, Harry Potter! Brian witnessed Harry being terribly abused and saved him. Eventually he blood adopted Harry who also got his name changed to Julian River White. That's the strange part for he somehow received a Hogwarts letter under his old name despite already being enrolled in Legerdemain Academy of Sorcery in Australia. That issue lead to this conversation! … just can't fathom how this mix up happened, but I'll investigate … actually, Albus you claimed Harry Potter was fine and his godfather Severus heard you say exactly that to him. Did you really know what was going on?" Cornelius asked perfectly innocently though he was clearly trying to unnerve the old wizard.

With everyone watching him Dumbledore hid his panic and frowned "I can't see how this happened. Remus was also telling me Harry was safe. I assumed his reports were reliable" Albus said trying to calmly pass the blame off to someone else, but Severus wasn't going to make it easy.

"he means Mr. Lupin who I doubt would allow abuse. It would go against his nature as a werewolf" Severus said barely spotting the harsh glare that flashed across Dumbledore's face for a spit second.

The minister pretended not to see the moment of anger and hummed "a werewolf would be protective of children … hmmm … I'll have to discuss this with him when he comes to see Sirius Black" Cornelius looked down at Julian with a smile "I'll keep you informed on everything. There won't be any point in coming since it's pretty clear he's innocent, but I'll give you the date-"

"YOU'RE LETTING BLACK GO! HE KILLED- … wait … innocent? How do you know?" Minerva asked going from enraged to confused in the span of one sentence.

"I'm sorry, but I can't give out details before a trial. It will be in the paper soon. I must go now, but I'll see you soon Brian" Brian waved as the minister walked away and soon apparated out off sight.

Minerva was still mulling over everything she learned from the abuse to Harry Potter owning Hogwarts, but she tried to make the best of this "would you like a tour to see where your classes will be Harry?"

"Julian, my name is Julian and I'm enrolled in Legerdemain as a straight A student" Julian answered politely though the mistake did unnerve him. He hoped this wouldn't become a problem. It was clear even without his talent in seeing auras that the Hogwarts were confused and flustered especially the fat old man called Horace Slughorn and Dumbledore who was not happy.

Minerva shook her head in a strange mix of fondness and disappoint "your father was like you … he was never very good at schoolwork" she smiled at Julian ignoring Severus's attempt to stop her before she shoved her foot deep into her mouth "if you transfer here you could improve greatly. Hogwarts is the top magical school so it will be excellent for you and you couldn't have been in school long so it will be an easy switch really" she said barely taking note of Severus pressing is face into his palm in exasperation and Dumbledore's twinkling eyes didn't help though the potion master wasn't concerned about him. He wanted to talk to Minerva before she embarrassed herself. Dumbledore can embarrass himself all he wants and Severus wouldn't help. In fact he'd sit back and watch.

Brian raised an eyebrow and decided to interject since his son was not sure how to begin this explanation. That and she did unintentionally insult Julian and he couldn't let that slide "Legerdemain uses muggle grading systems to make it easier for the magical people to transition should they need to take a job in muggle world. The letter grade A is the muggle equivalent to UK's O grade. Both Draco and Julian are my top students. The fact you don't how all 200 some schools outside the UK grade or even that it has been proven that starting school at five or six is healthy means you don't know very much abut other schools so is it fair to compare?"

"five or six?! That's preposterous!" Poppy yelled, but she and all the now fussy Hogwarts professors were rendered silent as Julian and Draco decided to preform a spell. The spell they chose was the light spell and didn't just cast one wordlessly and wandlessly, but they cast hundreds without words or wands. Dozens of glowing white orbs were flying out of their palm and they were staying in certain places as if the boys had some control over the orbs, which no one thought was possible "w-wandless?"

Aster smirked "they have been able to do this spell for years and they don't even get wands until they're 13 like most students outside the UK. Some never do because wandless seems so natural like parseltongue is for the hundreds of snake speakers all over the world" she said absentmindedly, but Brian, Severus, Julian, Draco, Narcissa and Lucius knew she wanted to make that point fast. That fact may have been too much for the Hogwarts staff for they looked beyond stunned and seemed to wander off in a daze they heard Severus open the doors to the castle to show his new brides around.

Draco scoffed as he canceled his light spells along with Julian "a simple light spell shocked them … the minister's plan may make them crazy when we start using spells above the ones we learned in our first year"

"some times a point needs to be made using very blunt means … why did you two ride Tanzanite here instead of the train and where's Sasha?" Narcissa asked curiously as they lead the group into the castle.

"everyone was talking about these books supposedly talking about Harry Potter and his charmed heroic life and it was getting annoying. As for Sasha … some of the older students were making fun of her and she wanted to show them what a real familiar can do" Draco said knowing full well that his jackal can handle herself. All familiars can develop magic or already be magical thus why a bond can develop at all. Plus she was a jackal, who are creatures often connected with the moon, trickery, adapting and mate for a lifetime, so she was cunning. If she got into trouble she could tap into Draco's magic.

"oh dear, she going to traumatize them" Lucius groaned, but seemed to be a bit pleased with the situation "these books you mentioned need permission in order to be written so I will take care of starting a lawsuit if you both want" Lucius offered.

Brian sighed "I think that would be a good idea. People need to remember Julian is a child with a life that should be respected not gossiped about. It would be good to sue the paper here as well since they have been using an under aged wizard's name" he said and the Malfoys smirked. It was about time someone slapped some sense in the public "is that alright with you Julian? … Julian?" Brian stopped and everyone noticed the young wizard had vanished!

XXXXXXXXXX

Julian opened his eyes and gaped as he found himself in a room filled with towers of old books, junk and furniture "what the hell?! … how did I get here? All I did was blink and then I was here … where did everyone go?" asked a startled wizard.

' _it was strange my human. The castle brought you here_ ' Tanzanite hissed from his perch around Julian's neck not sure how else to describe what just happened.

"the castle?" Julian looked down at the floor and crouched down to touch the cold stone. There it was, beating like a very weak pulse, the sad but ancient magic that was on the letter sent to him was coming from the stones … though the magic seemed happy to have him there for the magic strengthened where his hand was as if to say hello "it did bring me here, but why? … the last thing I was thinking about was … Oh!"

' _what is it? No one is here._ ' Tanzanite asked as he flew up into the air to get a good look at the room.

"I think the castle is trying to tell me there's a horcrux in this room" Julian exclaimed and started weaving through the towers of things to search for that horcrux that remained besides the main fragment, which was stuck in that one professor's head. It was several minutes before he spotted something on a tall stack of books "found it! It's up there!" he exclaimed as he pointed up to the top of the tower at something glittering. Before he could levitate it down Tanzanite snatched it in his jaws and flew down to Julian.

' _pretty, but tastes nasty_ ' Tanzanite gagged as he dropped the glittering diadem into the young wizard's hands.

"I could have levitated it down instead and spared your taste buds, you know?" Julian chuckled as Tanzanite flicked his tongue sheepishly for not thinking of that easy solution. Julian grabbed the orb from around his neck and pressed it against it. Another fluttering soul piece was added to the mix "only one more, but how to get it? … I wonder … can you help me and Tom?" he asked as he rested his hand on the stone floor. He felt flickers of concern in the stone, but after a moment a sound was heard. Julian went to look and he found a door "she's helping us again. Thank you"

' _thanks … now I'll grab his turban and you use the orb_ ' Tanzanite hissed ready to grab this guy for his human.

(got it. Let me hide the orb first) Julian responded through the mental bond as he wrapped the long chain around his palm and firmly but subtly held the orb before casting a 'not notice me over. Once he was sure it was hidden he walked through the door where he found the man with the turban seemingly talking to himself "excuse me sir I got lost"

"it's p-professor Quirrell, how did you get s-separated?" the professor stuttered.

"she wanted to talk to me" Julian answered cryptically just before he felt a thread of magic try to poke his mind "I understand I know a lot for my age professor and that you're probably curious, but it's still rude to read my mind" he said casually before mentally crushing the thread before it could even touch his mental shields.

"my apologies … you're skilled for you're age. Who did you speak to?" Quirrell asked strangely missing his stutter though Julian pretended not to notice.

"Hogwarts … she's alive … every stone is pulsing with her ancient magic. Oh, and just so you know everyone outside the UK learns occlumency and legilimeny in their first class so I'm not especially gifted" Julian said modestly "ummm … this is a little embarrassing, but there's someone here I really wanted to meet and I was hoping- no never mind! It's not you're problem"

Quirrell chuckled as he crouched down to the boy's eye level "I'd be happy to help. What's their name?" he asked not realizing that Julian was using Voldemort's interest and distain for one Harry Potter to get closer.

Julian blushed and leaned forward " _Tom Marvolo Riddle_ " he hissed in parseltongue and the occamy grabbed the turban from the stunned wizard at the exact same time Julian thrust the orb forward to touch the head. Quirrell collapsed and another soul fragment appeared in the orb …


	14. Awestruck

**(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Yaoi M/M, Harem – top Harry x bottoms Draco / Tom (TMR) / Cedric**

 **Last Time:**

Julian blushed and leaned forward " _Tom Marvolo Riddle_ " he hissed in parseltongue and the occamy grabbed the turban from the stunned wizard at the exact same time Julian thrut the orb forward to touch the head. Quirrell collapsed with a scream and another soul fragment …

XXXXXXXXXX

"this place is beautiful" Silvia exclaimed in awe at the stone walls of the castle.

"indeed, it's a shame a manipulative prick is in charge" Severus muttered as they walked the halls.

Sophia blushed as she held Severus's arm "so where should we stay?"

"yes, we'll wait a couple days to start annoying the old fool. A couple days where we won't leave our room" Silvia purred as she took Severus's other arm.

Severus smiled "I'm sure we'll be able to find a place all to ourselves" he said knowing a good deal of the castle isn't used even with all the students here so he won't have to kick out Slughorn to take his professor's quarters back, which will only go against their goal of fixing the education system. After all removing a teacher will only hurt the students further and make this more difficult so it's off to find a honeymoon suite all for themselves. Just as they were about to turn the corner into a hall filled with classrooms that were never used they heard a jingle of a bell and felt a breeze "that's strange. The classrooms here should all be shut- …this is not what was here before"

Instead of the hall filled with the classrooms like Severus has seen many times before there was one pair of French doors that were wide open revealing a lavish living room being warmed by a large fireplace. The ceiling was domed and had a charmed scene of the night sky, which hung over dark wooden furniture that had vine like carvings that matched the designs on the wall. A circular glass table set with three chairs in an open kitchen and a balcony overlooking the lake while maintaining some privacy with tall trees completed the honeymoon suite.

"it seems Hogwarts wants us to be comfortable" Severus said as he set his things on the floor.

"she's one hell of a decorator too" an awestruck Silvia exclaimed as she dropped her luggage to look around and immediately found the large doors that lead to the lavish master bedroom and bathroom.

"I'll say" Sophia smiled as she looked around at all the little details like the vine pattern etched into the glass of the table. Just when Severus turned to close the doors so they could explore in peace they heard a distant scream echo through the halls and he ran out of the suite with his wives. The scream seemed to come from a floor below them so they went looking.

"Julian what happened?" Severus asked as he, Silvia and Sophia came running around the corner and saw Quirrell laying out cold on the floor without his turban, which was in the small occamy's mouth.

Julian simply smiled and held up his little glass soul orb "I found the rest of Tom" he exclaimed happily.

Severus's eyes narrowed "we talked about what was to happen if you found Tom's main fragment Julian. You were supposed to talk to us first before confronting the piece of soul that was basically the dark lord" Severus said seriously.

"you also tell me not to let an opportunity pass by and I didn't" Julian smiled cheekily, but his godfather wasn't swayed. Either way he couldn't bring himself to regret what he did "Tom's last fragments were in a diadem and Professor Quirrell" he commented as his godfather knelt down to feel the man's pulse on his neck.

"he'll be fine. The goblins didn't have a problem removing yours, but I'm not sure why he passed out" Severus said relieved to feel a strong pulse. The occamy dropped the now unraveled turban on the professor's face and ignored the look on Severus's face for being cheeky as he landed on Julian's head.

Sophia frowned "I remember hearing that main fragments can be harder to remove if the wizard the soul fragment belonged to was very skilled with possession or the one being possessed has an unprotected mind"

"considering the skills of the dark lord and the lack of mental skills in UK wizards it could be both of those factors" Severus said as he levitated the professor "now where did you leave the others. Your father certainly wouldn't want you to be by yourself here of all places"

Julian smiled sheepishly "in my defense I didn't realize Hogwarts would be so eager to help me find Tom's soul fragments. I just thought of the possibility of a horcrux being here and she transported me straight to it and Quirrell while avoiding Dumbledore. I didn't intend to leave" he said thankful that castle did so, but he might be in trouble now.

"Hogwarts always did seem alive so I'm not surprised she'd react more to you being that you are her rightful heir … and I suppose me as well since I'm your godfather" Severus mulled over the idea.

"Julian!" Draco yelled as he spotted them through a window about two stories above his spot on the castle walkway between towers. He and the others, who were with him, met them at the bottom of the stairs.

"hey Draco!" Julian smiled.

"don' 'hey Draco' me! Where'd you go?" Draco snapped more angry now that he sees Julian is safe.

"Hogwarts wanted to help" Julian said and simply held up the soul orb, which was glowing softly as the fragments started fusing back together thanks to being all together in one space and the runes on the edge of the orb urging them to reunite.

Aster gasped "you found his last fragments! That's good news!" she exclaimed happily, but Narcissa and Lucius looked a little confused, which was no surprise. Just like with the 'Harry Potter' secret only Draco was told.

Brian sighed with an amused smile "you should've gotten me to help" he said, but smiled as his son was too happy care that it could have gone badly.

Narcissa blinked "hmmm … wh-"

"this is not the place to discuss it" Severus said quickly "I'll explain, but not here … and when I do keep in mind the soul magic subject Draco and Julian studied for the exams they took at the end of last year … and compared to everything you learned that was surprising this is even bigger" Severus warned seriously before smiling "and I'll explain after my honeymoon!" he said with a smirk as his two friends pouted, but they needed time to think about this. He knew his friends would go through Draco's textbooks to refresh their and would start piecing the clues together on their own, but this will buy Julian and Brian time to get to Gringotts to bring Tom back safely. There was no way Lucius or Narcissa would hurt an innocent young man especially when the soul healing process removes all the memories after the first crack in the soul.

"at this rate we can take him to Gringotts tomorrow" Julian mused as he saw the small fragments slowly stitch together.

(he better not be good looking) Draco thought as a hint of jealously reared it's ugly head at the way Julian spoke about seeing Tom, but he didn't spend too long looking at the green eyes that were focused on the orb for Quirrell groaned getting everyone's attention "so what should we do with him?" Draco asked knowing he had something to do with Julian's discovery of the last horcruxes and didn't like it for some reason that seemed to be jealousy towards Tom.

Aster checked his pulse "he'll be fine, but we should take him to the infirmary here. Where is it?" she asked and Severus lead the way

XXXXXXXXXX

Cornelius watched as the Aurors lead Sirius Black to the podium in front of himself and the Wizengamot members who were all present expect Dumbledore who was busy at the school and obviously couldn't attend though the minister suspected he didn't want to get accused of something by an unstable innocent man "Sirius Black, it has come to our attention that you are not nor have you ever been the secret keeper for the Potters thanks to the Potter heir releasing James and Lily's wills to me so you have been cleared of that crime. That only leaves the matter of the dozen muggles who you supposedly murdered along with Peter Pettigrew. With proof of your innocence in one crime coming out it of course calls your other charge into question. To make this as fast as possible will you agree to taking-"

"I'll take Veritaserum! Anything you want just please let me see Harry" Sirius exclaimed frantically practically sobbing at the chance being given to him, which startled everyone who thought the man was a hardened killer.

"very well" Cornelius ordered the auror to give Sirius the potion and once the wizard's eyes became blurry signaling the potion's control has taken hold the question began "what is your name?"

"Sirius Black" Sirius said in a daze.

"who are you to the Potter family?" the minister asked getting to the point as fast as possible without missing anything that would back fire later.

"I was a childhood friend and the godfather to Harry Potter" Sirius said unknowingly making the minister internally wince. It will not be fun telling Sirius he no longer has godfather rights.

As the other members took in the information the minister considered the next questions carefully "who was the secret keeper for the Potters?"

"Peter Pettigrew" Sirius answered.

"what happened that night Voldemort attacked?" Cornelius asked ignoring the simpering from the members who feared the name of the dark lord who died years ago.

"I heard about the possibility of the protections on the Potter home failing when I heard some death eaters repeating orders they received to attack the Longbottoms. They said not to bother going to the Potters because Voldemort was going there personally. My auror team subdued the death eaters and I raced to the Potter home. I arrived to see Peter standing outside. At first I thought he was guarding the front, but an explosion from Harry's nursery window revealed what he did. Peter realized he was in trouble and bolted as I rced inside. I found them all dead. James was on the stairs … Lily at the foot of the crib and Harry screaming trying to reach for his mom. I was too late. I picked up Harry and was going to leave, but then Hagrid appeared. I was angry enough to hand over my godson and hunt down Peter. It was easy to find him, but he planned it that way and blew up the street killing several muggles and cut o0ff his finger to disappear as a rat and frame me for it" Sirius explained sadly not pointing anything to Dumbledore like the minister had hoped, but this was a good start none the less.

"what do you mean 'as a rat'?" Cornelius asked curious as to why Sirius made it sounded like an animagus situation when there was nothing in the files on Peter.

"we were animagi" Sirius answered.

"he's an illegal animagus! He should be arrested!" one wizengamot member exclaimed.

The minister rolled his eyes "the punishment for such a crime is two weeks in Azkaban. He spent ten years in Azkaban for a crime he didn't commit all because no one bothered to give him a trial. I believe he served his time don't you?" Cornelius suppressed a smirk as the member dumb enough to make such a comment sheepishly slumped back into his seat "well since we cleared that up lets return to the questions … Sirius what do you mean by 'we' and what were the animal forms?"

"James Potter was a stag. Peter is a rat and I'm a grim dog" Sirius answered in a daze.

This new information was concerning because it meant a murder has been on the loose for ten years and Julian should be warned before news of his former identity becomes public "one last thing. Hagrid … did he say if someone sent him to collect the Potter heir or did he just say he'd protect the child?"

"I don't remember" Sirius said looking confused even though the truth potion was still effecting him and it was no surprise since the potion was able to bring out the truth eve if your memory was fuzzy. It would take a pensieve to confirm it, but it was clear that Sirius was obliviated at some point.

"very well, we'd like a pensive memory of that entire day" Cornelius said and gestured for the aurors to administer the antidote and pull out a silvery memory that did show that a very clear blank spot from an obliviate was present when the Wizengamot members all watched it "you are cleared of all charges and we will overlook the lack of proper registration if you sign up now. Also you will be released into Remus Lupin's care-"

"Remmy …" Sirius muttered weakly not realizing he interrupted the minister as he spotted the werewolf hiding sheepishly in the corner of the room.

Cornelius nodded understanding that this may be a bit awkward considering Remus has never made contact with Sirius since that fateful night and may have believed everything including Sirius's guilt, but Sirius needed someone to help in his recovery and there was no one else he knew "yes, Remus has agreed to oversee every aspect of your care, which we will be paying seeing that this horrendous oversight was on our part. On the days he will have trouble taking care of you I arranged for a healer to stop by and help. She will also examine you and get you the potions you will need. You are to go to a mind healer starting this week if you want to be fit enough to be allowed near any children" he explained making it clear that Sirius would not see Julian until he was deemed healthy in both body and mind. Of course since he also wants to grow the support for foreign magical places he asked Aster to recommend both a healer and mind healer from St. Pearl in Australia "if you'll follow me I'll help you get you the paperwork needed … your wand will be returned after the mind healer says so" he said casually dismissing the Wizengamot members and ordering the aorrs to spread the word through only the ministry about a rat on the loose before guiding the frail wizard and Remus to his office.

"where's Harry?" Sirius mumbled weakly as he sat down in the chair in front of the minister's desk.

Remus frowned "Sirius you have to recover before we can see him-"

"weren't you watching him?" Sirius snapped his anger flaring suddenly.

"no I wasn't told who was or where he was" Remus said sadly.

"who refused to say? You were close to the Potters so you couldn't be forced away really" the minister asked curious on whether or not he can link Dumbledore to this now.

"it was an auror. I thought the ministry was protecting him, but if you don't know … I guess not" Remus mused wondering what was going on.

(so I was right. The previous minister was working for Dumbledore. Slippery bastard) Cornelius thought as he sighed and sat down "there is something you both need to know. The wills that were responsible for your released also revealed that all of Harry Potter's guardian's were incapacitated in some way meaning someone illegally took him and placed him in the care of unauthorized people. Actually they were the very people who were marked as not an option for caring for him. those people were the muggle family of Lily's sister and there was a reason the late Lady Potter did not want Harry to ever go to that home. The child was hated, tortured, starved and then some"

Sirius shot up to his feet in a rage "I'll kill them!"

Remus paled "Sirius don't say that kind of thing when you just got released-"

"shut up Remmy! Harry's hurt!" Sirius screamed trying grab the minister's wand, but with a quick wandless body bind spell courtesy of the minister Sirius fell back into the chair.

"you are in no condition to fight a paper bag let alone an even more experience auror like myself. Now perhaps I should not have started at the beginning in this case so I will say this now. The Potter heir is currently alive, healthy and happy with the man who saved and blood adopted him at four years old. This man, Brian White, understands that you were his godfather by the Potter and is willing to let you near him only if you're showing good progress in your recovery" the minister explained.

The werewolf winced "Sirius wasn't re-chosen as his godfather"

"wait … what? He can't change that!" Sirius as he tried to fight the binding spell.

"he had that right the second he became Harry's father and that is not the only change either. Harry goes to school at Legerdemain not Hogwarts, lives in Australia and no longer goes by his birth name. his name is Julian River White and all things considered you're lucky Brian is allowing the chance for you to see Julian at all" Cornelius said firmly trying to get the man to see sense.

The frail looking Black Lord's lip quivered as if he was trying not to cry "I understand … who is Harry-… Julian's new godfather?"

"that is not something you should focus on, but he is currently living at Hogwarts. The only one allowed to see him until you complete seven appointments with a mind healer is Remus. Remember you can't meet Julian without being cleared by a mind healer and a regular healer so part of that report will be including how you act around his family current godfather included. Do you understand?" Cornelius asked seriously, but even though Sirius nodded after being released from the binding spell he was skeptical and was glad he placed alerts on the residence he's letting them use "when you signed these and showed me your animagi form Remus can take you home. The healer will meet you there and no, it's not Grimmauld. That place isn't safe for anyone at the moment. you see the mind healer tomorrow and your healer will be flooing you there"

Remus watched his old friend sign the papers and turn into the large black dog known as Padfoot for some pictures. With that done they bid the minister farewell, or grunted in Sirius's case, and left the office "Sirius I … I'm so sorry for everything" Sirius stayed silent as he seemed to grudgingly lean on his friend to walk to the floo network "I know you're mad I never came and you have every right to be. I … should never have doubted your innocence. Please forgive me" Remus pleaded softly, but hung his head in sorrow as his friend remained silent.

Looking away was his mistake for the second he did that everything went to hell. Sirius shoved Remus as hard as his weaken body could and dove for the floo. Before Remus could regain his balance he felt his leg go numb as he heard Sirius say 'Hogwarts' and vanished in a set of green flames.

"Sirius you idiot" Remus hissed and quickly looked around praying no one saw that and reported it. That would destroy Sirius's chances at seeing Julian, but thankfully everyone looked too busy with rat hunting to really notice the escape so he focused on his leg. It ws a very weak binding spell. Sirius must've been just strong enough to cast it wandlessly, but when Remus searched for his wand he paled … it was gone …

Sirius was unstable from years of imprisonment, he partially stunned Remus with the werewolf's own wand and was running around searching for Julian's godfather fully armed … this was not good and Remus quickly hobbled to a floo to try to stop his old friend from doing something he'd regret …

XXXXXXXXXX

"holy shit" one of the older students in the compartment that Draco and Julian were in before jumping out of the window of the moving train exclaimed as he watched the occamy flew off with it's passengers "who the fuck were those guys?"

The witch shrugged trying, and failing, to not look impressed "who cares? They are no where near as awesome as Harry Potter" she said, but though they all nodded in agreement they couldn't take their eyes away from the window they practically had their faces plastered to until the occamy was out of sight. Unfortunately by the time they decided to return to their seats the full side of the compartment bench was taken by Sasha who shamelessly stretched out so they all had to go to the other side to sit.

"hey that's our spot you stupid furball" one young wizard snapped and shot a hex to get the jackal to move, but got the shock of their lives when Sasha sent the hex right back at him with a lazy flick of her tail. The young wizard tried several more times, but failed each time. By the seventh time of throwing the hexes back Sasha got bored and made a shock spell that sent the three Hogwarts students flying back into their seats and bound them to the seats for the rest of the trip.

Of course Sasha released them after an hour or so for bathroom needs, but she was pleased to see that they avoided her for the rest of the trip. When the train came to a halt they stayed in their seats and waited for her to pass, which she did with a smug strut. However her very good mood was ruined when she started hearing what everyone was talking about, which was the now very obvious absence of the 'Boy Who Lived'. With one person saying the word 'kidnapped' everything went out of control and unfortunately everyone had their luggage, which included quills, parchment and … that's right, owls …

(oh you stupid brats) Sasha thought as she watched the Hogwarts students frantically write down letters of Harry Potter's absence and release their owls. Less than one minute after the train stopped the sky was filled with owls …


	15. Plans in Peril

**(** I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Yaoi M/M, Harem – top Harry x bottoms Draco / Tom (TMR) / Cedric**

 **Last Time:**

(oh you stupid brats) Sasha thought as she watched the Hogwarts students frantically write down letters of Harry Potter's absence and release their owls. Less than one minute after the train stopped the sky was filled with owls …

XXXXXXXXX

Dumbledore retreated to his living quarters just off of his office where he could think in peace "how the hell did any of this happen? What went wrong?" he said to himself. As he pondered everything he also tried to recall if any evidence leading back to him was left behind. He couldn't think of any loose ends right off, but he prepared to tread carefully especially around this new minister who seems smarter than he let on in the election "Fudge may be trouble in the future … what?" the headmaster froze as he felt the magic in the castle shift. He moved over to a crystal ball "dammit it's all true"

The crystal ball revealed that the whole hall of unused classrooms was transformed into a large suite. What was even worse is that the crystal ball would only show the outline of the room, but not the inside. It even showed Severus, Silvia and Sophia enter the room, but the three basically vanished. This infuriated the headmaster since it meant he couldn't track any of the wizards and witches as he pleases, which will make taking Julian back impossible.

However the crystal ball did suddenly switch to a image that could provide a potential fix to this situation. It snapped to a view of his office, which showed the floo flare up as someone flooed into his office. As a clearly weakened and slightly crazed Sirius stumbled out of the floo Dumbledore got an idea …

The headmaster smirked and used a little magic to open the door quietly so Sirius could hear "I can't believe Harry- I'm mean Julian was abused" he said and watched Sirius through the crystal ball. He noticed Sirius heard the name and crept closer to the door "I must be old if I failed in such a horrible way. Not just with Julian, but with Sirius as well. I should have known he was innocent … I suppose it turned out for the best … Sirius is to be freed after far too long and Julian is with a loving father" he said with a fake tone of sadness and regret as he watched the image of Sirius lean closer to the door in the crystal ball wearing a look that clearly showed that Dumbledore was cleared of all wrong doing in the Black's eyes "at least I hope that's the case … how kind could a man be if he adopts Julian only to make a man he never met before hand Julian's godfather and Severus Snape no less who is staying in the wing that used to have the unused class rooms! Is he-" Dumbledore smirked as he actually heard someone run out of his office.

Sirius was no doubt pissed at the news and being as unstable as he was he never stopped to consider what amazing timing it was. He just happened to floo in just as Dumbledore was talking out loud with the door open and giving all the details he needed. To Sirius he was just lucky the kind old headmaster was there. Never once did he even consider that it was all a trap …

"hopefully this will make an opening" Dumbledore said as he went to his own personal cabinet on the wall and pulled out a loyalty potion he made. Once there was an opening he will slip it to the boy and his adopted father.

Interestingly enough the crystal ball shut off not revealing Julian encountering Quirrell or the conversation between Brian and Julian or even Remus who managed to hobble out of the office chasing after Sirius's scent without the old wizard seeing him …

So much was missed, but after coming out of his room and doing some research on other means of mind control Dumbledore did notice one thing "where'd my floo powder go?" he pondered, but shrugged it off and had a house elf get some more as he went to speak with the professors … and hopefully watch some drama unfold …

XXXXXXXXXX

Brian looked at Severus as they walked towards the infirmary with the others and the unconscious professor "I think we should go to your honeymoon suite and quickly" he whispered urgently.

"alright" Severus said whispered back "Julian stay with the group this time. I need to show your Dad something" he said and Silvia and Sophia followed the two wizards.

"whar's going on?" Sophia asked worriedly.

"ask Brian" Severus said as he lead the way back up the stairs to their suite.

"I don't know exactly, but someone is coming and they're dangerous … I keep thinking of a constellation when I try to come up with the name-ahhh of course, Sirius Black" Brian said finally remembering the name of the innocent man who was schedule to be released not long ago.

Silvia frowned "he was supposed to go straight to a mind healer right. What's he doing here? Oh merlin, is he after Julian?"

Severus sneered "over my dead body"

The four magical beings raced up to the suite and moved out of sight except for Severus. The protective godfather sat right on the couch with his wand in his hand and watched the opened door for the first sign of motion. Once the haggard Black came into view Severus stood up and disarmed him with a single spell.

"you bastard-" Sirius screamed as he ran forward and was going to lounge at the wizard with all the strength his weak frail body could muster, but he was grabbed by his shirt collar by someone behind him "LET ME GO! THAT DEATH EATER IS HURTING MY GODSON" Sirius was so blinded by anger and completely unstable that he barely noticed the two witches move out of their hiding spots to stand with Severus. He just kept falling against the man holding him back who was actually Brian.

Brian felt his anger flare and he took the man by the neck and lifted him easily "Mr. Black if you don't calm down I will make sure you never come near Julian"  
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT BRAT! I ONLY WANT TO KEEP HIM AWAY FROM MY GODSON!" Sirius screamed apparently already forgetting about what the minster said only a few hours ago.

Severus raised an eyebrow at the odd comment "who is your godson?"

"DON'T FUCK WITH ME SNIVELUS! IT'S HARRY POTTER AD YOU KNOW IT!" Sirius yelled trying to violently fight Brian off for a few more seconds before tiring himself out.

"Sirius!" Remus exclaimed as he ran or technically hobbled in the room.

"Remmy that bastard is trying to hurt Harry!" Sirius yelped as Brian dropped him making Sirius stumble and fall to the ground.

Remus spotted his wand on the ground and got it to remove binding spell on his leg "Sirius you shouldn't have come here-"

"but he's a Death Eater!" Sirius snapped still worn out, but his eyes widened when Severus crouched down near him and rolled up his own left sleeve revealing a mark free arm. The point didn't really get through the Black's skull who roughly hit Severus's arm away. Well it was meant to be rough, but Sirius was so weak it came out as more of a light slap.

"Sirius lets go … I'll explain again-" Remus said softly as he tried to touch Sirius's shoulder only for the Black to weakly yank his shoulder away "I'm sorry Severus. It was my fault he got away before he left the ministry" the werewolf apologized only to get a furious glare from Sirius.

Severus snorted "he better get out of here. Brian isn't going to put up with this and you're lucky Julian isn't here"

Remus winced and looked up at the blonde man Severus gestured to "Brian … Brian White? As in Julian's father?" he said nervously realizing that they were right in front of the very person who could take Julian away from them and Sirius already showed how unstable he is.

"yes I am … I will overlook this just this once, but I will meet him in three months and if he isn't showing improvement he won't see Julian" Brian said seriously

The werewolf nodded quickly "I understand. I'll make sure he-"

"who the fuck is Julian?! Where's Harry? What did you do to him?!" Sirius screamed s he tried to grab Severus. This time Remus was faster and Sirius was struggling against the werewolf's grip in no time.

"Sirius we're going to the house the minister gave us before you screw this up even more. As for Harry …" Remus sighed as he tightened his grip around the struggling Black "we will talk later" he said sadly coming to a bitter realization that Sirius was less well than he thought if he couldn't even remember what the minister said. The werewolf was about to drag Sirius all the way back up to the headmaster's office when the fireplace suddenly flared up and a jar of floo powder appeared on the mantel.

"it seems the castle is kicking you out" Silvia said with a smirk and they watched Remus drag Sirius, rather easily by the way, to the fireplace and flooed away.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I wonder what Dad needed to see. He was worried" Julian frowned as he followed his godmother and the Malfoy family to the infirmary.

"he'll tell us I'm sure" Aster said with a smile though she couldn't help but wonder if this was a problem or not.

However right now she simply focused on the unconscious wizard floating along with them. Poppy wasn't very happy when they entered the infirmary. Not that she was actually mad, but perhaps she was still thrown by the recent news for she was clearly tense.

"what happened now?" Poppy said harsher than she intended.

"it seems he fainted" Aster said as she levitated the professor onto the closest empty bed.

Poppy flushed sheepishly for her tone before and went over to check the wizard over "I'll check him over" she said and cast a spell to scan Quirrell "he is alright, but his magic is restless" she said not sure as to why that was, but it didn't matter for the professor woke up after a couple minutes later.

"how … did I get here?" Quirrell muttered to dazed to even stutter.

"actually I was hoping you'd tell us" Poppy said as she scanned Quirrell again and was pleased to see that his magic has calmed down "you seem better already"

"yeha … ok … I remember going on a trip to Albania … though I can't really remember why … I remember everything after returning to school, but it's all fuzzy …" Quirrell explained still very dazed though he was trying to move not knowing that Aster, Julian and Draco felt relieved. Even Narcissa and Lucius were relieved though they were still unsure why what happened to Quirrell was so serious, but it did make them more curious as to why Severus told them to look into the information concerning spirit magic.

Lucius's eyes narrowed as Dumbledore entered the infirmary "Dumbledore is something wrong?" he asked as anyone would if someone randomly walked into the infirmary, but this made the Malfoy lord suspicious. After all nothing seemed wrong, but instead seemed to be here for a reason … as if he was expecting something …

"I was simply checking up on what was going" Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes, but frowned upon seeing Quirrell on the bed instead of anyone else he expected "so what is going on?"

Julian could feel the wizard go from smug to confused without anyone physical sign and Tanzanite could feel his human's concern letting a little flicker of fire out in a protective response "Professor Quirrell fainted"

"oh?" Dumbledore replied blandly though Julian suddenly felt concern from the old wizard, but it did seem like the concerned aura wasn't actually focused on the professor "are you alright Professor Quirrell?" Dumbledore said as he stepped forward not realizing Julian could sense his eagerness and the flash of rage as he found that the dark presence of the dark lord, which was in the professor only moments ago, was gone "I'm glad you're better" he said stiffly before the professor could even answer and turned to leave.

Narcissa frowned "that was odd" she whispered to her husband who nodded in response.

XXXXXXXXXX

"how did he get away?" Dumbledore growled under his breath as he wandered the halls, but at some point during his brooding he crossed paths with Brian.

Brian stopped in front of the older headmaster with a pleasant smile "Severus, Silvia and Sophia asked me to tell you not to worry about them if you don't see them at meals. They have a house elf of their own so they'll have food" he said and leaned closer to Dumbledore while losing his smile "there was an unstable issue, but that was handled … oh and we won't be staying for any meals either. Once you explain that Julian isn't a Hogwarts student we will leave" he said and smiled before walking away. The blonde headmaster had a hunch he just hit a nerve …

"yes of course" Dumbledore said and he began to fume inside as the blonde wizard walked away.

One issue after another was destroying his plan. No, at this point he knew his plans were fully crushed. Sirius was apprehended without doing any damage. If even the tiniest cut was made he could infect then with the loyalty potion through the wound, but now Brian and Julian won't even be eating so he can't even slip them the potion in the food. Also all the professors were chatting to Brian when they all gathered in the Great Hall to await the rush of students. He didn't like that everyone was slowly getting out of his grip. To make matters worse he heard the Malfoy brat tell his parents and Brian that a 'Sasha' somehow told him that everyone on the train panicked and spread the word that Harry Potter wasn't there so now he has a huge shit storm to fix.

None of this was supposed to get out! He hoped the brat was wrong. Hell he had no clue how the Malfoy could know that when the train only just stopped! The boy was acting as if he had a mental connection to this Sasha, but that was foolish. Sure he can understand Julian being strong enough to make a connection, but not the Malfoy.

Speaking of Julian Dumbledore was deeply unnerved by those green eyes. If he didn't know any better he'd think the boy could see straight through his calm exterior and down to his soul. It was a sick feeling and he vowed to force the boy to cooperate by any means to stop those eyes as well as Voldemort. The dark lord may have suddenly vacated the professor for the time being, but he will return and Julian should still have the horcrux so he can still find a way to use them to destroy each other. Though he wished he could get close enough to Julian to check the horcrux, but the occamy was clearly not going to allow him anywhere near the boy let alone everyone else.

Dumbledore mentally screamed in a rage as all of the thousands of Hogwarts students, and a random jackal, raced into the Great Hall yelling about Harry Potter's disappearance "SILENCE!" he yelled harsher than usual, but otherwise remained in control. As every student fell silent he prepared his speech "there are several things to discuss right now, but since you all are so worried we will start with the issue of Harry Potter who is safe. In fact he was on the train for a moment and you may see him throughout the year. Harry Potter was secretly adopted and his name was changed. This boy Julian River White is Harry Potter" Dumbledore said and as he saw all the stunned faces he wondered he could use Harry Potter's fame to coax the boy into his reach. Either way he will get what he wants …

Julian twitched as all the students looked at him, but thankfully before they fully digested the information his Dad, Aster and the Malfoys ushered him out knowing this would become a mob in a split second. The young wizard decided to wait a few days before going back there so people can calm down. Now it was time to focus on the little orb holding the healing soul.

' _it will be interesting to finally meet this bottled human'_ Tanzanite said as he hung from Julian's neck to flick his tongue at the orb once they were home.

"I can't wait either" Julian smiled as he touched the orb.

Brian put his phone down after finishing his call "I told the goblins. They will have everything ready for the ritual tomorrow and we just have to come in once the soul is healed … this will stay quiet for now you know that right?"

The young wizard frowned and nodded. It wasn't Tom's fault really, but they couldn't forget what Voldemort did. Tom will need protection from those who hated Voldemort until something can be arranged …


	16. Formed

(I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Yaoi M/M, Harem – top Harry x bottoms Draco / Tom (TMR) / Cedric**

 **Last Time:**

The young wizard frowned and nodded. It wasn't Tom's fault really, but they couldn't forget what Voldemort did. Tom will need protection from those who hated Voldemort until something can be arranged …

XXXXXXXXXX

Julian woke up early the next morning to check on the soul fluttering in the orb. He was happy to see that the soul was now fully healed, "Tom's souls is healed!" He exclaimed excitedly as he leapt out of bed effectively startling his occamy from his perch.

' _The bottled human is ready? Good, my human won't have to carry him now!_ ' Tanzanite hissed as he righted himself on the small perch and watched as his human get dressed.

"True, Tanzanite!" Julian laughed as he put his shirt on and once he finished dressing, he grabbed his necklace holding the little glass orb. He placed the necklace around his neck and let Tanzanite perch on his head before running out of his bedroom. "Dad! Dad! Tom is ready to be healed!" He exclaimed and blushed sheepishly as he realized his father was still asleep or, at least, Brian was asleep until Julian started yelling. "Sorry, Dad." He said with a light chuckle as his Dad groaned.

Brian yawned as he stood up, "It's alright. It's only …" Brian glanced at the clock and chuckled, "Five in the morning." He said shooting an amused smile at his son who looked rather sheepish. "Let me get dressed and we'll go." He said and smiled amusedly as Julian ran to the kitchen to start the coffee maker for his Dad.

XXXXXXXXXX

Remus woke up the next morning feeling like shit. He was run down, covered in minor wounds including a bite mark on his arm and it looked like a few pieces of hair was ripped from his scalp. It wasn't unlike how he felt after a full moon, but it had nothing to do with that at all. In fact, Sirius was the reason …

The werewolf groaned as he slowly stood up from the uncomfortable chair he was sleeping in as a dark skinned woman wearing dark blue scrubs from St. Pearl came in, "How is he, Megan?"

"He's settled for now … I administered the first round of every medication he needs. You will notice some mild side effects." Megan said as she pulled out three cases of potions and set them on the dining room table for Remus to view.

"What kind of side effects should I look out for?" The werewolf asked as he moved over to the dining table in spite of his aching joints wanting him to stop moving entirely.

Megan smiled as she pointed to the first case, "Luckily for you, this one makes him sleepy and considering what a fuss your friend kicked up last night you'll be happy for that." She said knowing full well that Remus did everything he could to help her keep Sirius from hurting himself in his desperate attempts to get away. Despite being weakened by years of imprisonment Sirius still made it difficult for the healer and Remus, "The other two are different. They can both cause rashes. This ointment will help if anything like a red blistery rash appears. If you see anything like a purple tinge to his lips or nails contact me immediately and stop giving him those two only. Don't stop giving him the first one. It's just a special nutrition potion for a healthy weight gain and won't hurt him. In fact, the sleepy side effect will help if you see any side effects from the others. I wrote the names, dosage and time to administer for each on the cases, which are charmed to glow when you have to give a potion."

"Of course, but how will I contact you?" Remus asked knowing the minister had no intention of letting Sirius leave in his condition and he could leave his friend's side long.

"Ah, yes, I told you last night that the floo will be shut off, but didn't explain." Megan chuckled, but there was a good reason she didn't get to explain.

Once Sirius heard that the floo was going to be closed off he flipped out and lunged for the floo powder. They would've just put him in a body binding spell if it wasn't for the fact that the floo powder fell all over him when Remus grabbed him again. With the floo powder everywhere it was actually dangerous to cast a spell on Sirius because of the floo powder. Only one grain of powder being hit with magic is enough to activate the powder and it could splinch Sirius who was in no condition to get that badly hurt. Remus and Megan had to restrain him without magic and without hurting his fragile body, which is why Remus looks the way he does since it was the werewolf took the brunt of his friend's tantrum.

"We didn't have much of a chance to talk." Remus sighed in exhaustion.

"Yes, but considering how much of a fight Sirius kicked up I'm sure he'll recover quickly." Megan said amusedly as she pulled out a cellphone. "Use this. The Minister infirmed me of the lack of knowledge on non magical means of communication in the UK so I'll make this simple." She said and showed him a few quick things on the phone and told him a charm to get it to work by voice should he forget how to use it in an emergency. "Ok, call me if you have any questions, understand?" She asked as she reached into her bag and set out a potion and a jar of ointment.

Remus nodded, "I will, thank you, Megan."

"It's no trouble. Now I informed the mind healer that Sirius is too weak to go to her so she will stop by here. She has a portkey going to the edge of the runes and will be the only person allowed in besides me. If you need to go somewhere apparating will be best. Just leave the runes first and your phone is a portkey leading back incase you need it. Good day, Remus. I left a pain killer potion out for you and some ointment to help with those cuts. I'm sure you can handle that and please do so. You won't be much good to Sirius if you don't take care of yourself." Megan said before going out the front door with her bag in hand.

Remus watched the healer walk across the lawn until she reached the sidewalk and apparated away, "I don't need to worry about giving Sirius a potion for a while … I'll start breakfast soon." He mumbled tiredly as he drank the pain killing potion and applied the ointment taking the healer's words to heart.

After taking a few minutes to ease himself into a more alert state he started a light breakfast. For a split second, he panicked as he realized that Megan forgot to give him a dietary plan for Sirius, but when he was about to leave the kitchen to get his new phone he spotted a charmed paper crane fluttering around the stove. Remus smelled Megan's scent on the crane and plucked it out of the air. When he unfolded the crane he found a long list of foods that will effect the potions as well as a comprehensive diet plan.

"She must've done this when I was sleeping." Remus said completely relieved at the discovery and read the directions thoroughly before gathering everything he will need to make a healthy breakfast for Sirius. Once it was ready he put the meal for Sirius on a platter and carried it upstairs.

"Remmy …" Sirius mumbled sleepily as he laid in bed too tired to move.

"Yes it's me, Sirius. I brought you something to eat." Remus said with a kind smile as he set the platter on the bedside table to help Sirius sit up. He chuckled as Sirius cringed at the bland looking meal, "I know it's not the most appealing, but it's your healer's orders. I put some cinnamon in so it Isn't as bad as it looks. Here try." He said as he scooped up a spoonful of the oatmeal like mush and held it up to Sirius' lips.

Sirius hesitated for a moment, but gave in and ate the mush, "Not terrible," he mumbled.

"Thank you," Remus said as he scooped up some more mush.

As the werewolf fed his friend, he started pondering why Sirius was so confused yesterday. He seemed so much more stable now, but was that just because of the potions? No, Remus was sure something pissed Sirius off after he got to Hogwarts. After all Sirius clearly knew the connection between Julian and Harry before escaping, but was deeply confused after Remus caught up to him. That anger rattled his mind to the point that he forgot everything the Minister said only moments before. What pissed him off though?

Suddenly Remus realized something, "Sirius, how did you know where to go yesterday?" Remus asked carefully not to say any names that will infuriate his friend. It was still a good question though. It was only because he followed Sirius' scent that helped him find his way, but how did Sirius even find Severus? After all, that wing isn't the first place anyone would look for the potion master.

"Headmaster told me," Sirius mumbled as he ate another spoonful of mush.

"He told you?" Remus blinked in shock at what he heard.

"Overheard him … sleepy," Sirius muttered with a yawn.

"Hmmm? … Yes, of course. You sleep." Remus said as he helped tuck his friend into bed and took the platter downstairs, but he couldn't help but ponder what Sirius said.

It seemed so unlikely that Sirius just stumbled in at the exact moment Dumbledore was talking out loud about the exact details he needed to find Severus. Something seemed so wrong about it and stranger still Dumbledore wasn't talking at all when he came after Sirius only a moment later. The timing was just too perfect, but the more he thought about that moment in the headmaster's office he remembered there. He was too worried about Sirius to notice at first, but now he remembered a familiar scent in the office. A scent he knew very well, but couldn't place it …

"Merlin, what is it?" Remus grumbled as he set the plates down next to the sink to clean after he ate his own meal. Whatever the scent was he knew it shouldn't be in the office and as he ate he racked his brain trying to remember what the scent was …

XXXXXXXXXX

' _These moving rooms aren't too bad._ ' Tanzanite hissed as he let go of the ceiling of the insanely fast Gringotts elevator.

"That's because you can fly!" Julian laughed as he felt the elevator come to an abrupt stop allowing his father and himself to gather their bearings after the insane ride. Once they managed to stumble out of the elevator they were approached by Daggerfang.

"It's good to see you again, Julian. Shall we begin this ritual?" The goblin asked as he lead them to a room with a set of three overlapping magical circles carved deeply in the floor. One of the circles was empty, but the other two had a pile of ashes and a bone in the center of each, "We had all the elements found in the human body and split them into two piles. One circle has one half with a bone from Tom's father while the other circle has the other half along with a bone from Tom's mother. The third circle is for the soul."

"I have it!" Julian exclaimed happily as he lifted the necklace over his head and handed it to Daggerfang. Tanzanite took its place around his neck much to Julian's amusement.

Daggerfang used his long claws to unscrew the orb from the chain and placed the orb in the center of the third circle, "Now the ritual can commence." The goblin said and walked over to a bowl of water.

Slowly and carefully the goblin poured water over each pile sending the elements into the grooves of the carved circles. Once the water and elements filled the grooves leaving only bones and a soul in the centers of each circle the goblin began chanting. The circles glowed green and slowly the bones began to break down and floating up into the air. Soon the water and elements created ribbons that wrapped around the bones. As the ribbons released a steam the orb suddenly popped open and Julian could see the orb being sucked into the madness floating a foot above the floor.

"Wow!" An awestruck Julian exclaimed as the mass began fusing all together and glowing. After a moment in that state the mass started to take shape and lower back down to the floor revealing that it had turned into a wet brown haired teen.

"Mr. Riddle will be looked over by our healers. He won't remember anything after the first crack in his soul, but other that he should be fine. Will you be housing him?" Daggerfang asked as he signaled to some healers to come in.

Brian nodded, "Yes. In fact, I'll take partial guardianship until he can arrange something with his own goblin-" a panicked scream went through the room and the two healers backed away as Tom woke up in a panic …

XXXXXXXXXX

"Damn brats!" Dumbledore muttered angrily as he entered his living quarters attached to his office and shut the door.

This morning had been hell. Every single student hurled question after question at him about Harry Potter's adoption including why no one knew about him owning Hogwarts and if Julian would come back. It took over an hour and nearly two classes to get everyone quiet. Severus wasn't helping at all either and actually added to the problem without even being there. The Weasley twins started another explosion of questions when they asked why Severus was living here, but not teaching.

Nothing was going smoothly at all, which all lead to the massive headache he had now. However, as he went to his potion cabinet to get a headache reliever he spotted an object that was supposed to be a means of earning Julian's trust, but was ultimately yet another failed plan. The object in question was James Potter's invisibility cloak, which was hanging on the rack next to the cabinet.

"Can't give that to him now." Dumbledore growled and downed the headache reliever. He intended to give it to Julian, but Brian is too smart.

Instead of gaining the trust of a lonely naïve child by returning an heirloom he'll gain the suspicions of an eagle eyed foreign headmaster, who will want to know why he had a Potter heirloom all these years, and he can't afford that now.

At least, he can use the cloak to his advantage since being invisible can be useful for watching your enemies …


	17. Mind, Body, Home

(I'm thinking)

"I'm speaking"

 **Pairing: Yaoi M/M, Harem – top Harry x bottoms Draco / Tom (TMR) / Cedric**

 **Last Time:**

At least, he can use the cloak to his advantage since being invisible can be useful for watching your enemies …

XXXXXXXXXX

Darkness … so much darkness … so much pain …

He didn't know where he was or when he'd stop just floating uncontrollably through this vast cold darkness and just find something solid to hold onto. Something that wasn't the lightening bolt shaped scar that seared him when he got too close, only adding to his pain. However, what felt like years passed and he only felt more fear and deep pain as his situation seemed hopeless and never changing save for the screams of a child in pain. A child he wanted so badly to help. It wasn't until he felt a comforting warmth start pulling him gently towards something. This warmth dulled the odd pain he was constantly in. The sharp agonizing pain that was like he was torn into pieces eased and finally felt calm enough to wonder. Wonder why he was in pain in the first place? Why can't he remember? Where the hell was this warmth taking him? What happened to that child? That final question worried him the most …

In a cozy daze, he felt himself, as odd as it sounded, being placed inside something, but it was so nice and for once he didn't feel like he was floating out of control, so he didn't care so much. The best change was the little voice of the same child that seemed to come from all around him and, more importantly, the child sounded happy now. It made him happy as if he wasn't alone and he constantly tried to move closer to the voice. Sadly, despite the sweet voice telling him he was safe he still felt broken in way. However, even that eventually changed when one by one other little, but very familiar, entities came into the space he was in.

It was as if he could sense them. Of course, he was thrilled and carefully tried to move towards each of them as they tried to make their way toward him. Soon they were all close to each other and it felt right. Each time they brushed another one of them a spark went through them and he noticed that they'd stick together for a split second. He, and soon all the others, realized this was something more. As if they were trying to fuse, but there was something off.

Until they could figure it out they just floated around together and listened to the sweet child's voice grow older as time passed. They all knew he was trying to tell them things, but they couldn't quite comprehend the content. It probably had something to do with the container they were in because they heard voices clearly in other places before they came here. If it wasn't for the fact that they felt safe it would be a concern, but for now it wasn't and they waited and listened.

The waiting only lasted a few years when he noticed another entity enter. As he floated over to greet this one with the others something else came in. It was another like them, but there was so much anger and hate that they backed up for a moment. After a second sizing up the tiny angry entity, they rushed forward and the six entities tackled the seventh one. Despite the clear conscious attempts to pull away and assert control, the first six got around him and they were able to stick like usual, but they didn't break away like usual. In fact, they began getting more and more stuck …

A part of it felt scary, but it also felt right. They-no, he soon felt whole again, but there was only a small amount of time to savor the glorious feeling before being rudely grabbed by an unseen force. He was dragged out of the cozy container and was assaulted a slew of new, and yet rather familiar, sensations …

Cold … wet … dizzy … sick … headache … light … ringing …

All of that hit him at once and it scared him …

"Mr. Riddle, we're not-"

He felt something come close and touch him and became even more frightened, "NO!"

Daggerfang growled as magic exploded from Tom's body sending the medi-witches back several feet, "As impressive as it is that you can use magic so soon after getting your body back, Mr. Riddle, you must stop this or you'll die permanently this time."

Tanzanite suddenly grew as Tom's magic lashed out towards them and wrapped his huge serpentine body around Julian, 'You ok, my human?' The occamy asked, never taking his eyes away from the potential danger.

Julian nodded as he watched the magic lash out ready to severely injure anyone who came too close. Even his father changed into his elemental wolf form to protect him as the goblin used his own magic to protect the medi-witches, "He's scared. So very scared … Tanzanite, help me get to Tom!"

'I will help, my human. Hang on to my neck. We're going to move fast!' The occamy said and watched for the best moment as Julian gripped his neck and found a good hold.

Brian realized what his son was about to do and spread out his misty form to gently dampen Tom's magic, "Be careful, Julian! Don't touch him directly until he calms down!" The wolf yelled as his magic tried to contain Tom's wild magic. Unfortunately, he felt the magic was stronger and far more uncontrolled than any student he had to do this for. Also, he knew Julian was the only one who can calm the teen down.

With Brian's interference, Tanzanite found a safe opening and bolted forward carrying his human with him, though Julian quickly found out why he was warned about touching Tom when his occamy brought him too close, "Damn, it burns." He hissed as his hand brushed Tom's magically charged skin, but tried to ignore it and kneeled next to the terrified teen. "Tom! Please calm down! No one here wants to hurt you!" Julian raised an eyebrow as Tom seemed to search blindly for him as excitement flickered in the scared soul. "Do you recognize my voice, Tom? It's me, Julian. I know it's strange, but you're safe here and you can calm down." He yelled and after a few seconds Tom's magic settled down as Julian quickly caught Tom who nearly hit the floor in exhaustion.

' _Stubborn human still making my human carry him_.' a shrinking Tanzanite snorted as Julian pulled the slender naked teen into his lap the second he was safe to touch.

Daggerfang sneered, "Impressive magic. It's rare for people to connect with their magic so soon after getting their body back, though this bond is mostly likely what aided in his soul shattering in the first place." The goblin said grimly as he watched the teen blindly cuddle close and cling to Julian. "It seems he hasn't regained control of his senses yet or his memories either I suspect." He mused as the healers behind him casually moved passed him as Brian returned to his human form.

"How long will it take for Tom to fully adjust?" Brian asked hearing said teen whimper as the healers came too close too fast resulting in Julian gently consoling him.

"If his magic is this reactive, then he should recover quickly. First, he will fully regain his eyesight and other senses. Then,: his memories should return … at least, the memories before the first crack in his soul. Any memories after that will never return though he may remember the trauma that started it. We'll see what happens in the next several minutes." Daggerfang said as he watched the teen who was finally letting the healers check him over, though much to his amusement, Tom still refused to let go of Julian …

XXXXXXXXXX

Remus looked at the woman before him in slight surprise, "I didn't expect you so soon Ms. …"

"Ruby Gro." The casually dressed dark skinned woman with long gray hair said with smile, "I'm Sirius' mind healer obviously, but I came to talk to you."

"What about- … oh right. You were told about Sirius' …" Remus fumbled for the right word, "tantrum." He said sheepishly as the older witch took a seat in the living room.

"Tantrum … an interesting word choice to describe what happened." Ruby mused as she directed her sharp brown eyes at Remus who flinched, "what exactly happened?"

The werewolf mentally gulped as he got the feeling he was an academy student in deep trouble, "Sirius snapped as we went through the floo." Remus said not wanting to bring up the little detour to Hogwarts. That will only get Sirius in trouble with the Minister …

It seems Ruby wasn't easily fooled though, "The mind and body work together, Mr. Lupin. Megan told me the second she heard you floo here … unfortunately for you the Minister in charge here told me when you left his office. Since when does it take an hour to floo from place to place?"

"I umm …" Remus panicked and scrambled for an excuse. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of anything to get Sirius out of trouble and ultimately sighed in defeat. "I know the Minister said to go straight here, but Sirius wasn't thinking. Please don't tell the Minister! He needs to see Jul-" Remus' plea was cut off by the old witch who raised her hand demanding silence.

"What I decide to report will depend on your honesty and exactly what lead to Sirius being in the manic state he was in on arrival … even though that state may be the only reason Megan forgot to report your arrival to the Minister as well." Ruby said, her sharp no nonsense look making the werewolf flinch again, "What happened in that detour? … and let me make it clear that, as his caretaker, you must be trusted or Sirius' chances of gaining our trust dwindle. I'd hate to think you're hiding anything from me, be it detrimental to my client's health or not."

Remus winced as her point became clear, "I won't hide anything that could provide a false healthy report."

"And yet you haven't answered me." Ruby said bluntly before sighing, "I've met too many idiots who believe hiding things for their friend will help, but it only cripples the recovery in the long run. Sirius wants his right to see Julian then don't put him and Julian in danger by giving him shortcuts and covering things up like you did in school."

Blood drained from Remus' face as he realized the mind healer must've been given access to their records and perhaps even spoke with Severus if she was that thorough. In a way it was a relief since he knew she wasn't going to allow Sirius to guilt him into anything like in school and with that feeling he sighed, "I … I apologize … I didn't mean to do anything of the sort. It was my fault Sirius got away. You see, he got my wand as we were leaving and managed to hit my leg with a weak binding spell before running off to Hogwarts." Remus paused to consider how to explain what happened, "I went after him, but when I caught up he was in a rage and deeply confused about everything the Minister just told him."

Rudy nodded, "That's understandable. People who have had been exposed to dementors can be very unstable and can get very confused when emotions are triggered. What triggered him?"

"I don't know for sure, but I think it had to do with something he overheard Dumbledore saying about Severus Snape." Remus admitted.

"Albus Dumbledore, the current headmaster of Hogwarts, correct?" Ruby asked and mused the thought when Remus nodded confirming her question. "I've read some odd things in your records. You and your teachers seemed to do a lot of covering up. You covered for your friends' like any child your age, but your teachers covered for them too in a disturbing show of favoritism including your former Headmaster. Tell me what you can about your past and as much as you can about Sirius. I want to be as informed as possible before I talk with him tomorrow … and try to recall any interactions with your Headmaster."

Remus would've been confused if something didn't feel off about what Sirius said about Dumbledore. He told the mind healer as much as he could, but that nagging feeling he felt since smelled that familiar scent in Dumbledore's office only got stronger. It was as if he literally just said the answer, but it wasn't clicking for some reason …

XXXXXXXXXX

"What do you remember?" A healer asked softly after scanning Tom again and was pleased to find his vision and hearing had returned to normal.

"I remember … the orphanage I grew up in … meeting Dumbledore." Tom looked hurt and tightened his grip on Julian's hand. The blonde with the tiny occamy in his hair never left his side even when he was dressing. It was comforting. "He said I was a wizard like him, but he just left me there with the muggles …" Tom trailed off sadly.

The healers all resisted the urge to smack this foolish Hogwarts Headmaster and focused on the questions, "What's the last thing you remember?"

Tom bit his lip as he thought back, "ummm … I remember playing with Persephone … she was a basilisk in Hogwarts … then I was going to leave. Persephone was mad about something and her eyes were open I think, but it's all fuzzy … there was a girl … a lemon smell …" Tom suddenly clutched his head in pain.

Julian pulled Tom into a hug , "Don't push it."

One healer nodded with a smile, "The fact you remember so much is a great sign and you're healthy enough to go home."

"But where is that?" Tom whispered. He knew the orphanage was long gone and he was told that there was a medical reason for years have passing without him having any memory of it so he had no clue where home was.

"You'll stay with us." Brian said with a smile. He had a feeling this was a good thing and that Daggerfang was going to make a basilisk related report after they leave so everything was handled …

"Thank you." Tom said softly. Tears came to his eyes knowing he wasn't going to be dumped somewhere and before he knew it he was being taken to an amazing home in the trees.

Julian chuckled as Tom's brown eyes darted around in excitement, "Want to watch something?" Julian suggested trying to get Tom to rest and flicked on the tv … _'This week on Thor God of Hamm-_ ' as quickly as he turned it on Julian turned it off as he saw the very startled look on Tom's face.

Poor orphanages decades ago and magical Britain didn't exactly have TVs as a commonplace item so that idea was out, but Brian had another idea, "Why don't you both set up Tom's room and check out the book list for this school year?" he said and the boys went to do that after a tour.

Once the boys were busy he texted Severus to tell him the news and give him a heads up on a possible basilisk extraction. He knew one thing for sure … Dumbledore wasn't going to like that …


End file.
